NBL urged to make hoops prodigy Roman Siulepa a Next Star as NRL, rugby circle

Teen athletic freak Roman Siulepa has long been touted a future basketball star but the NBL has been urged to lock him away as rival codes circle.

Roman Siulepa's star continues to rise. Picture: Felix Steiner

Roman Siulepa’s latest remarkable performance is further proof the NBL should make the teen phenom a Next Star, mentor Jason Cadee believes.

And this masthead can reveal the NBL is in talks with Siulepa’s management, with growing interest in making him a Next Star which would fend off rival codes circling the 17-year-old athletic freak.

On the weekend, Siulepa poured in 37 points on 13/24 shooting for South West Metro in NBL1 North, tearing down 11 rebounds in leading the Pirates to a 104-96 win over an Ipswich team featuring Boomers Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Nathan Sobey and former Brisbane Bullet DJ Mitchell.

“I don’t think there’d be many people questioning if the NBL decided to make Roman a Next Star this year,” Cadee told this masthead of the 198cm, 110kg physical beast.

“Every time someone sets a bar, he just jumps over it.”

Those bars have been extremely high ever since Siulepa burst onto the basketball scene as a 15-year-old and, this year alone, have included MVP of the U20 National Championships and victory in the prestigious Albert Schweitzer tournament, where he was named in the All-Star Five alongside fellow Queenslander and Brisbane Bullets’ Next Star Rocco Zikarsky and a.

Siulepa has committed to basketball but this masthead has been told the high school student’s prodigious talent across multiple sports has caught the attention of league and union eyes. It’s understood the ARU is attempting to coax him into playing for the Australian U18 team and Super Rugby’s Queensland Reds and the NRL’s Gold Coast Titans keen for him to choose a football pathway.

Seventeen-year-old Roman Siulepa poured in 37 points and tore down 11 rebounds for South West Metro against Ipswich in NBL1 North on the weekend. Picture: Supplied

Roman Siulepa was MVP of this year’s U20 National Championships. Picture: Taylor Earnshaw

NBL veteran Cadee has counselled the Queenslander for the past three years, emphasising he focus on “being a kid” as agents and teams from all over the world circled. But he knows the time is now to get serious and has signed with super agent Daniel Moldovan, who will guide him through the next step in his basketball journey.

“We agreed Daniel Moldovan would be the right person to lead his path, given how many times he’s done it with other athletes (Josh Giddey, etc),” Cadee said.

“His preference is to stay in the NBL and Moldovan has led discussions on what that looks like in terms of being a development player or being a Next Star.”

Long-touted as a Boomer of the future, Siulepa has

Siulepa made headlines during the NBL finals when he visited Tasmania and spent time with the JackJumpers.

The championship winners from the Apple Isle have been the most persistent in their interest in Siulepa, who has a strong relationship with JackJumpers basketball boss Mika Vukona.

It’s understood Siulepa has spoken with several clubs but is yet to visit any others.

Originally published as NBL urged to make hoops prodigy Roman Siulepa a Next Star as NRL, rugby circle