After the tournament, starting Monday, Ball heads to Illawarra Hawks in the Australian NBL, returns for the New Zealand NBL, then joins the Wisconsin Badgers in the United States.
His appearance as a national senior basketball representative in a schools’ tournament is not particularly rare.
Former Hastings Girls’ High School player Pahlyss Hokianga, the youngest-ever Tall Fern national women’s team member, has played for Tauranga Girls’ High School.
Hokianga relocated last year to gain national league experience with Tauranga team the Whai.
Henare lists Ball’s younger brother, Kees, Hawks development programme players Isaac Allen, Lennox Singh and Balin Gasson, and starting point guard Gyle Adams as others potentially going places.
With US colleges now able to pay players direct, the NZ Herald reports 60 New Zealand players – 36 female and 24 male – have been confirmed on Division 1 US college rosters for 2025-2026.
Their scholarships come with high academic standards, another sign of the times.
“I think when we won the title in 1992 most of the players could have been suspended for (non) attendance,” Henare reckoned.
NBHS have five games in pool play, starting against Cashmere High School, of Christchurch, and Pukekohe High School on Monday.