Warrnambool's Ollie Harris immerses himself in American IMG Academy's basketball program

The Warrnambool teenager spent three weeks at the famed IMG Academy in America, honing his skills at the Florida-based sports school.

Harris, 16, will now use the knowledge gained at the camp when he suits up for Warrnambool Seahawks in the Country Basketball League this summer.

Long-term the Emmanuel College student would like to play Big V - either locally or for a youth league club in Melbourne or Geelong - with a college basketball scholarship in the United States his goal once he graduates from high school.

Harris is a seasoned traveller but the IMG Academy visit was his first solo overseas trip and took him out of his comfort zone.

The shooting guard was grouped with Americans and European visitors who took the opportunity to sign up for the camp, including the son of NFL legend Tom Brady.

His days were filled with basketball skill sessions - up to four hours a day - as well as strength and conditioning work.

"Going into it I didn't know what to expect because I'd never done anything like that before," Harris told The Standard.

"It was great and it met my expectations. It's a high school and pretty much the size of a college and it's the best facilities I have ever used.

"The school is sponsored by Gatorade and Under Armour and there was Gatorade every 50 metres you walked around campus and it took five or 10 minutes to walk from one side of the campus to the other, it was that large."

Harris, who has visited America four times, said he'd like to join a college program as he enjoyed the lifestyle.

The camp gave him a taste of what to expect with the IMG Academy coaches boasting NBA and college experience.

"I guess planning towards the future, for me a goal would be to play college basketball over there," he said.

"I am not sure what I will do next year, I might do another camp and play over there sometime next year, and then try and get a college scholarship."

The hyped American sporting scene is different to the laid-back nature and team-first focus of Australian sport.

"We had an All-Star game. They picked the top-10 players from the camp and it was just one game throughout the whole three weeks at the end of camp," Harris said.

"We played that and I got MVP of that game. People talk it up a lot more and it's a lot different to here in that regard."

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