From Crow to Crow: Former Boomer's advice to Cotton

• Cotton's National Championships teammate from Queensland, Roman Siulepa, also joined the show
• The crafty point guard had interest from elite college basketball programs in the US
• Cut to the Jase Episode 1: Cadee's behind-the-scenes look at the Adelaide 36ers

Rising basketball star turned Adelaide Crows recruit Indy Cotton has revealed how a former Australian Boomer and college hoops standout helped him make the transition back to Aussie rules football.

On the second edition of 'Cut to the Jase' with Jason Cadee, Cotton said he had "heaps of conversations" with former University of New Mexico point guard Hugh Greenwood before making his decision to leave basketball and sign as a Category B Rookie with the AFL's minor premiers.

Greenwood, a Tasmanian product, was one of Australian basketball's top young prospects coming through the junior ranks, spending two years at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from 2008-2010 before playing four seasons with the University of New Mexico Lobos from 2011-2015.

The lengthy and athletic point guard starred for the Lobos, playing alongside fellow Australian Cameron Bairstow, before returning home and signing a three-year deal with the Perth Wildcats. However, he parted ways with the NBL club before the 2015 season to chase a career in the AFL.

Like Cotton, he signed with the Crows as a Category B Rookie and would go on to play 121 AFL games with Adelaide, Gold Coast and North Melbourne - including playing in the 2017 grand final.

"Hugh Greenwood was a big one for me because he's up on the Gold Coast now working with dad at the Suns," he told basketball.com.au.

"So I had heaps of conversations with him about college and footy and the experiences he had. And he said, at the end of the day, whatever decision you make, you're going to love either way.

"You get to play professional sport. He said he loved his time over at college and he wouldn't have changed a thing going. So, he was a really big one for me, kind of going in a similar situation. He went to the Institute, (with) Marty Clark... so we had a good relationship there.

"He was a massive person helping me make a decision."

Cotton could have chosen the US college basketball path just like Greenwood and the 18-year-old said he was "super close" to staying in the sport.

"It was obviously an extremely tough decision that took me a long time to kind of come to a decision," Cotton said.

"I think going to the camp before as well, the Steph Curry camp was obviously another one that was a super grateful experience to be a part of. It's not every day you get to go and do something like that with one of the best players in the world. So nah, extremely close, NBL and college was something that was super close to me when I was making my decision."

One of his other mentors in Cadee, said Cotton would have had a big future in basketball if he chose that path.

"We'll never know now," he joked on 'Cut to the Jase'.

"I met him when he was a 15-year-old. He just got to the Gold Coast, (Anthony Petrie) threw him into a few Rollers (NBL1) sessions in that offseason. He was someone that came in and just, you could tell he was still a kid, but he wasn't scared to be in that environment and at least have a go. Often those ones you kind of can tell have a bit of confidence in their ability.

"Then I got to watch him play that 16s season and then those next few years, and you could tell that there was upside. He was growing, he was getting more athletic, his jumper was coming along, you could tell he was learning a lot.

"When he rang me about this decision, about what he was doing, I was a big promoter of do whatever you feel you're comfortable with. Like at the end of the day, you've got to pick somewhere where you're going to be happy.

"There's positives and negatives to each side. I truly believe he would have given himself a great chance in basketball, but as equal, he's going to give himself a great chance in AFL now. He's made the decision to move there and he gets to attack that. He's going to a great program in the Crows.

"When I played in Adelaide, Tex Walker and a few of those guys I've been around, they're great people. So, if Tex goes around again, he's going to have some great people to lean on and really learn on the fly."

Cotton is back on the Gold Coast after spending a month training with the Crows and said working on his body to prepare for the physical rigours of AFL football was the priority. He also said the experience so far has been "unreal".

"I got to spend four weeks down there just recently, over their finals campaign, which is pretty cool experience getting to be around the boys and make good relationships there and kind of get ready for rolling into preseason in a few months," he said.

"Getting there early, I kind of had a bit of an upper hand on a few things I need to get done in my body and skills wise before I can kind of go full into it in November. It was a really great experience to be around everyone and learn a lot when I was there in that time."

Cotton starts official pre-season training with the Crows in late November.