Rotorua basketball talent Logan Elers has secured a home for the next four years.
Last year's Rotorua Boys' High School senior A basketball team captain, Elers is currently playing for the Taranaki Mountainairs in New Zealand's top senior basketball competition, the National Basketball League (NBL). But this week he signed on at the South Dakota Mining School on a joint sports/academic scholarship.
"It takes a bit (of pressure) off me now I've committed to the South Dakota School of Mining - I've got a home now for the next four years," said Elers. The first semester starts in August.
"My commitments at Taranaki finish at the start of June so I still have a few months there."
Elers visited several schools in the States in December. "(Head) coach (Jason) Henry made me feel really welcome - he was one of the big pulling points of the school - so apart from it being an engineering school, which is a big bonus, he was really friendly and made me feel wanted and that I'll be part of the family.
"He said that you've got to earn your keep - no one's guaranteed minutes or starting or whatever, it's just who he thinks is the best for the position right then and there."
The school's basketball team plays in division 2 of the Rocky Mountains Athletic Conference.
Elers said it was good to have his future sorted. "It's a huge relief - it took a lot of stress off my parents, but signing those papers just lifted that bit of uncertainty and having to worry about it. Now I've signed I can start focussing on the basketball side of things and the visas and the little niggly things, but the big one's out of the way."
"We are truly ecstatic to have Logan join the Hardrocker men's basketball programme," said coach Henry.
"He has an outstanding opportunity to excel in our system. He has a tremendous amount of athletic ability and a great skill set. Logan is the type of scholar-athlete that can play inside and out at a very high level. Logan played for his father in high school and has a great feel and understanding for the game."
Elers will study for a degree in metallurgical engineering.
The Moutainairs are sitting at 4-3 in the NBL, with Elers pleased with the game time he is getting. "I'm loving it - I'm one of the nine that travel, which is really good because I'm the youngest one who gets to travel, and I'm getting some minutes so that's a real big bonus straight out of high school - I'm getting about 10 minutes a game which is good."
Still 18, Elers said his NBL experience was helping his game.
"The time with Taranaki is big, development-wise. I'm a lot better than I was before I came. A lot of that is down to coach Ross (McMains).
"It's completely different to playing at high school. It's a professional league and I'm training every night, I'm doing personal workouts and going to the gym - it's just a professional environment and a professional set up."
And, he said, rather than being the senior player he was at school he is now the player that gets to learn from more experienced team members.