Ethan Mitchell in basketball apprenticeship with the Sharks

Basketball wasn’t much more than a passing interest for an 11-year-old Ethan Mitchell until he discovered Derrick Rose.

Watching Youtube clips of the NBA star, who has played across six franchises in the most high profile basketball competition on the planet, ignited a hoop dream in the youngster from eastern Southland.

“Back in the day, watching those Derrick Rose highlights, I just started playing basketball and I got good at it. I started getting better at basketball than rugby, so I decided to choose basketball,” Mitchell said.

“I always played miniball, but I wasn’t too interested in it. I always preferred rugby, but from there I just fell in love with it.”

That choice has paid dividends for the 19-year-old Southland age group representative, who is in his second season as a development player with the Southland Sharks in the New Zealand National Basketball League.

The development role is an unpaid apprenticeship, taking part in practices throughout the week and sitting on the bench for home games at ILT Stadium Southland.

For Mitchell, that means travelling from Gore to Invercargill most days of the week, with days full of gym, training and recovery.

He’s thankful that he has some flexible employment with Gore’s Aitken Joinery, who allow him to work the hours he can, but striving for his basketball goal is a financial challenge.

He’s hoping the sacrifice will be worth it as he develops his craft under the experienced eye of Sharks coach Rob Beveridge, who Mitchell rates as the best coach in New Zealand.

Mitchell hopes to follow in the outsized basketball boots of another eastern Southland player in Mitchell Newton, a former Sharks, Hawks and New Zealand Breakers player.

He’s been lucky to have early coaching advice and mentorship from Peter Howes, and ongoing coaching from Southland Basketball Association development officer Leyton Haddleton, the Sharks assistant and New Zealand age group coach.

Last year Mitchell earned his way onto the court for some nervous minutes at the end of a game, getting his name on the scoresheet when he made the second of two free throws.

“It’s pretty cool when they call your name out over the big speakers,” he recalled.

“You run out and everyone is cheering - it’s pretty special. I was freaking out when I went out on court, because I didn’t want to embarrass myself. I had all that going through my head, but luckily I did alright. I missed my first free throw, but luckily the second one rattled in.”