Warner’s Mitch McCarron is coming ahead in leaps and bounds on international basketball courts.

The 18-year-old, who plays as a point guard or a shooting guard, has been jet setting around the world as his basketball career heats up.

Last year he played for his country at the Youth Olympic Festival then toured with the Australian Schoolboys team to the USA in December, just before packing his bags to move to Canberra on an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship.

Speaking to The Westerner during a two-week break from his AIS duties, McCarron said attending the country’s major sporting hub was a career highlight.

“I’ve always wanted to go there. It’s probably, especially in basketball, a goal everyone wants to achieve,” he said.

“It’s everything it’s talked up to be. You’ve got great coaches around you and great facilities, so it’s up to you to become a better player.

“There’s 14 of the best guys in the country there, so it’s good to be labelled as one of the better players in Australia for your age.

“Moving to the AIS is a huge jump – it’s not easy leaving family and friends back home – but it’s all for the best.”

Last month McCarron played for the Australian Under-19 team, the Emus, in a four nations tournament that featured Slovenia, the USA and host nation China.

“The group played pretty well, Slovenia was pretty tough and China was pretty tough as well, but we had a lot of lot close games and fought it out,” McCarron said.

“Against the Slovenians especially, because the way Europeans play is extremely different, you’ve got to learn to play your tempo and not play into theirs, otherwise they control the game.  So it was good learning different styles.

“I was happy with my performance when I got on the court. I didn’t get that many minutes so it was more about bringing energy (to the team) rather than the stats.”

Having played for his country and secured a place at Australia’s top basketball nursery, McCarron is now looking overseas to forge an on-court career.

He hopes to follow in the footsteps of AIS graduates such as Pat Mills and Andrew Bogut and play college basketball in America, with the ultimate goal of joining them on court in the world’s top competition, the NBA.

“Obviously basketball is huge over in America and they take college sport so seriously, so it would be a great experience,” said McCarron, who has been approached by several universities ahead of the college season, which starts this time next year.

“Having success over in the States is really important if you want to continue on with your career, especially if you’re thinking NBA, so college is the way to go.”

Next McCarron hopes to help the Emus beat New Zealand in September to see Australia qualify for next year’s World Championships in Latvia.