Avery Sussex has popped up on the radar of Canada Basketball scouts looking for the nation's next generation of international talent.
The Port Coquitlam product is set to participate in a special training camp this weekend — one of 36 athletes handpicked from across the country by the sport's national governing body.
The Grade 11 student is currently dribbling up the Niagara College court from now until Wednesday (March 29) for Canada Basketball's women's high performance national team age-group assessment camp.
It's also the first step in a recruitment process that could potentially see Sussex in red and white for the 2023 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in July.
Sussex scored a team-high 23 points and was named player of the championship game in helping Riverside Secondary win its first B.C. AAAA girls' title in school history.
The Rapids, ranked third overall, defeated the top-seeded Walnut Grove Gators by a score of 70-52 in completing a redemption run from losing the final in 2022.
Sussex combined for 105 points in four games at provincials, including a tournament-best 30 points in the semifinal.
"It was a full-on team victory," she told the Tri-City News after hoisting the trophy. "The energy was everything."
@tricitynews Champions, at last. ššš #tricitynews #portcoquitlam #basketball #bc4agirls #provincials #riverside ā¬ Times Like These (Acoustic Version) - Foo Fighters
In a news release, Canada Basketball explained its high performance camp participants were selected based on their performance during regional ID camps, high school seasons and club competitions.
Sussex is a club member of VK Basketball in North Vancouver, which made it to the 2019 Jr. NBA Canada regional finals in Toronto.
At Niagara College, she's set to undergo several workshops that focus on physical conditioning and mental performance with coaches, technical staff and sport scientists.
If she continues to turn heads, Sussex could be invited to the next stage of 2023 age-group programs in the summer.
As she's born after 2004, she's set to be assessed for the under-19 squad that scheduled to make an appearance at the World Cup in Madrid, Spain.
That team won silver in the 2022 tournament, which helped bump Canada Basketball up three spots to a current fifth-place FIBA world ranking.
