Gems, Emus part of 77-strong 'Fabulous Freshmen' class

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World Cup silver medalists Gems Sitaya Fagan, Zara Russell, Emus Nash Walker, and Alex Dickeson are just four of 77 Australians entering their first seasons of NCAA college basketball in the US next week.

The 77 first-year students make up the bulk of the extraordinary 246 Australians – nearly one in three – playing college basketball in 2026-27.

"There is so much more opportunity for young players now," CoE GM Peter Lonergan told Brayden Heslehurst earlier this month.

"You look at someone like Madi Ryan; she will finish her journey career potentially playing in four junior World Cups, plus a host of Asia Cups.

"BA has done a tremendous job of promoting all its national teams and ensuring the success of Opals, Boomers, Gliders, Rollers and our junior teams is front and centre.

"Just 16 years ago, we only had under-19 Worlds every four years; we now have meaningful competition for under-15 to under-19 teams, not to mention the expanded qualification and competitive opportunities for our senior teams."

Ryan, who plays for the Southside Melbourne Flyers, isn’t yet college-eligible at 17, but will be, while Gems teammate Sitaya Fagan was one of the most coveted and most recruited Australians in college basketball history. She committed to USC.

If a player is missing from our lists or details require updating, email peter.brown@basketball.com.au directly.

The NCAA basketball season starts next week: Australian Women's Schedule I Australian Men's Schedule

Emus, Gems and Sapphires

Twenty-four of the 77 have played for Australia at a FIBA junior tournament: 10 men and 14 women.

Six of them won silver with the Gems at the 2025 FIBA U19 Women's World Cup. Five more played for the Emus at the men's U19 World Cup in the same year, and at least 59 of the 77 have played NBL1.

Gems. Six of the 12 Gems who won silver at the 2025 FIBA U19 Women's World Cup in Brno are first-year students this season:

• Callie Hinder (Arizona)
• Monique Bobongie (Michigan State)
• Prasayus Notoa (BYU)
• Ruby Perkins (California)
• Sitaya Fagan (USC)
• Zara Russell (California)

Perkins had 12 points and four assists in the final. Taryn Bond (Hawai'i) has also played for the Gems, winning gold at the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's Asia Cup.

Fagan has gone further than any of them. She was named in an Opals squad in May 2026.

Sapphires. 12 of the women have played for the Sapphires. Seven of them were at the 2024 FIBA U17 Women's World Cup in Mexico: Emma Petrie, Erica Finney, Notoa, Perkins, Fagan, Russell and Zoe Jackson.

Jessie-May Hall, Lucy Aherne, Perkins, Fagan and Jackson won gold at the 2023 FIBA U16 Women's Asian Championship. Fagan, Rebecca Donnelly and Bond won the 2025 FIBA U17 Women's Oceania Cup in Samoa, with Fagan named MVP.

Bobongie played at the 2022 U17 World Cup in Hungary. Alleah Hanson (UC Irvine) won gold for Australia at the 2022 FIBA U15 Women's Oceania Championship, alongside Petrie, Hall, Fagan and Jackson.

Emus. Five of the 2025 Emus who finished sixth at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Lausanne are freshmen: Ajak Nyuon, Alex Dickeson, Ché Brogan, Mading Kuany and Nash Walker. Nyuon, Brogan and Walker had already won gold at the 2024 FIBA U18 Asia Cup in Amman.

Crocs. 10 of the men have played for the Crocs:

• 2023 FIBA U16 Asian Championship, Doha (gold): Dickeson, Henry Sewell, Isaac Riddle, Kuany and Walker
• 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup, Istanbul: Nyuon, Dickeson, Sewell, Kuany and Walker
• 2023 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship: Brogan and Walker
• 2025 FIBA U17 Oceania Cup, Samoa (silver): Riddle and Koby Moir
• 2022 U16 Asian Championship (gold) and 2022 U17 World Cup: Devers and Carlin Briggs

Walker has worn the green and gold more than anyone in this class. He played six FIBA junior events from U15 to U19 between 2022 and 2025.

Three more women on our list are junior internationals for New Zealand, not Australia. Sophia Hickey (Iona) is Melbourne-raised, and Olivia Hastings (Butler) and Taia McMechan (Sacred Heart) are Australian-based. All three played for New Zealand at the 2024 FIBA U17 Women's World Cup.

How many

Our men's tracker lists 91 Australians, including 26 freshmen. That's more than any other class, ahead of 25 sophomores and 24 seniors.

The women's tracker lists 155 Australian women, 51 of them freshmen, ahead of 37 sophomores, 36 juniors, and 31 seniors.

Nine of the 77 are listed as redshirt freshmen. The men are Carlin Briggs (Portland), Frank Oguche (Charlotte), Henry Lau (Long Beach State) and Nash Walker (Marquette). The women are Alice Magnanini (Murray State), Eleanor Trout (Boston College), Erica Finney (Loyola Marymount), Jemma Hunter (Houston) and Kailee Field (Portland State).

Not all of them are teenagers. Tristan Devers, 21, joins Washington after three seasons as a development player with the Brisbane Bullets, and Kobe McDowell-White turns 22 before starting at Chattanooga.

Schools and conferences

The 77 are at 65 schools in 23 conferences. The men are at 24 schools across 16 conferences, and the women at 45 schools across 19.

Portland has the most, with four. Austin Foxwell, Carlin Briggs, and Henry Sewell are on the men's team,, and Maddie Angus is on the women's team.

BYU has three women: Prasayus Notoa, Stella Sakalas and Vahayliah Seumanutafa. UC Davis also has three: Koby Moir on the men's team and Anna Bassett and Rebecca Donnelly on the women's team.

Four schools have an Australian freshman on both their men's and women's rosters: Davidson, Portland, Saint Mary's and UC Davis.

The West Coast Conference has 10, more than any other conference:

• Portland, four
• Saint Mary's, two: Flynn Pavely and Lucy Aherne
• Pepperdine, two: Freya Bijkerk and Evelyn Martyn
• San Francisco, one: Emilie Beggs
• Loyola Marymount, one: Erica Finney

The Big 12 has nine:

• Ajak Nyuon (Arizona State)
• Alex Dickeson (Colorado)
• Callie Hinder (Arizona)
• Emma Petrie (Utah)
• Jessie-May Hall (TCU)
• Jemma Hunter (Houston)
• BYU's three

Twenty-one of the 77 are in the Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, ACC or Big East. Big Ten:

• Isaac Riddle (Wisconsin)
• Tristan Devers (Washington)
• Monique Bobongie (Michigan State)
• Sitaya Fagan (USC)
• Zoe Jackson (Indiana)

ACC:

• Ruby Perkins and Zara Russell (California)
• Eleanor Trout (Boston College)

SEC: Maper Maker (Arkansas) and Mading Kuany (Georgia). Big East: Nash Walker (Marquette) and Olivia Hastings (Butler).

Several conferences have changed for 2026-27:

• Pac-12: the rebuilt conference starts play with Roman Stathis (Washington State), Emerson McCrea (Boise State) and Ella Barmentloo (Fresno State).
• Metro Conference: this is the MAAC under its new name. It has four Australian freshmen: Abu Riak (Canisius), Tim Ibukunoluwa (Siena), Sophia Hickey (Iona) and Taia McMechan (Sacred Heart).
• Mountain West: Hawai'i (Taryn Bond) and UC Davis have moved in from the Big West.
• ASUN: Oluwatomisin Ayodele-Osho joins West Florida in its first Division I season.

NBL1 alumni, Centre of Excellence and other clubs

At least 59 of the 77 have played NBL1:

• NBL1 East: 21
• NBL1 South: 15
• NBL1 North: 11
• NBL1 West: 8
• NBL1 Central: 5

Centre of Excellence. 12 came through Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

• Men: Nyuon, Dickeson, Briggs, Brogan, Pavely, Riddle, Kuany and Walker. Briggs and Walker were there with the NBA Global Academy.
• Women: Hinder, Bobongie, Fagan and Russell.

Russell captained the CoE's NBL1 East side to the grand final in 2025; that season, Fagan averaged 21.2 points and 10.5 rebounds.

The clubs. Sandringham Sabres and Norths Bears have produced four freshmen each:

• Sandringham: Ella Wickstrom (Buffalo), Josie Agnew (Cal Baptist), Maddie Angus (Portland) and Sierra Woolhouse (Harvard)
• Norths: Finney, Hastings, Donnelly and Perkins

Six clubs have three each:

• Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Spiders: Hall, Perkins and Lola Gralton (St. Bonaventure)
• Manly Warringah Sea Eagles: Chloe Dix (Columbia), Bijkerk and Olivia Johnston (Lehigh)
• Logan Thunder: Notoa, Seumanutafa and Sharni Reisinger (Davidson)
• Perry Lakes Hawks: Barmentloo, Beggs and Eva Smith (Princeton)
• Willetton Tigers: Ibukunoluwa, Remy Hearn (Houston Christian) and Saoirse Smart (Presbyterian)
• Ipswich Force: Jasraj Gill (Lafayette), Bassett and Field

Some arrive with NBL1 honours:

• McDowell-White was the 2026 NBL1 North Youth Player of the Year with Cairns.
• Notoa won the same award in 2025, when Logan won the NBL1 North title.
• Ibukunoluwa was finals MVP in Willetton's 2025 NBL1 West title run.
• Finney was NBL1 East Defensive Player of the Year with Norths in 2023.

NBL and WNBL. Six of the men have NBL experience:

• Devers (Brisbane Bullets)
• Foxwell (South East Melbourne Phoenix)
• Brogan and Deng Manyang (Adelaide 36ers)
• Lau (Sydney Kings)
• Sewell (Melbourne United)

Three women have been on WNBL lists: Bobongie and Russell (UC Capitals), and Perkins (Sydney Flames).

The US prep route. Others finished their junior basketball in America:

• Abu Riak (Combine Academy) at Canisius
• Oguche (1 Of 1 Academy) at Charlotte
• Harrison Lyttle (IMG Academy) at Mercer
• Joe Baldwin (SPIRE Academy) at USC Upstate
• Kuany (Iowa United Prep) at Georgia
• Stathis (Golden State Prep) at Washington State
• Ibukunoluwa (Orangeville Prep, Ontario) at Siena

The NCAA basketball season starts next week: Australian Women's Schedule I Australian Men's Schedule