COOPER Gater has received the fantastic opportunity to showcase his skills overseas.

The Coffs Harbour Suns junior representative has been selected by AUSA Hoops to tour the USA in July.

The seventeen-year-old will play on the Puma Circuit in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Tournament, getting the chance to impress college coaches and earn a potential scholarship.

Gater will be a part of the AUSA Hoops Boys Tour, which is Australia’s leading pathway to college basketball in the USA.

AAU basketball is the testing ground for all US high school players; at any given tournament there could be anywhere from 100 to 1500 college coaches scouting for their next players.

The St John Paul College Coffs Harbour student was selected to the tour after submitting a video package of his highlights on the court.

Cooper’s mother Kelly said the USA trip meant everything to her son.

“He’s super excited, he’s really hard working and deserves to go,” she said.

“I think the thing he is most looking forward to is a tougher level of competition, and it being more intense.

“Who’s a basketball player and does not want to go to the USA?

“He’s really looking forward to it and really excited about playing there.”

She explained her son’s love of basketball and his involvement in the sport.

“He lives and breathes basketball, and is an exceptionally hard-working athlete, who spends a great deal of time refereeing and coaching at the grassroots level also,” she said.

“Anyone would say he is the hardest worker in the room, and he is well known for his work ethic.

“This year, as he completes his junior representative season, he is also playing as a development player on the Coffs Harbour Suns Youth League (Under 20s) team.”

By Aiden BURGESS