NORTH Melbourne is set to add to its developing tall stocks, with the club closing on a deal for Australian basketball prospect Lachlan Brewer as a Category B rookie.
Kangas list boss Brady Rawling travelled to Idaho in the United States recently to scout the 195cm talent, with the club now expected to clinch a deal for Brewer as a project tall.
The deal is seen as a significant fillip for North Melbourne, with the 20-year-old understood to have turned down more lucrative basketball opportunities at both collegiate level and in the Australian NBL to join the Arden Street club.
Brewer has played Division 1 college basketball for Sacramento State and Idaho State across recent years, but has a football background and grew up playing alongside Ryley Sanders and soon-to-be teammate Colby McKercher in Tasmania.
The youngster was even named in an initial under-12s North Melbourne Next Generation Academy squad alongside Sanders and McKercher back in 2017.
The Kangas' recruiting team has been monitoring his basketball progress ever since and recently became aware of his interest in returning to Australia to pursue a football career.
As Brewer has been away from football for a number of years – his last registered appearance came in 2021 – he is eligible to join any AFL side of his choosing under Category B rookie rules.
Brewer – who averaged 8.2 points, 1.1 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 29.5 minutes for Division 1 program Idaho State in college basketball last season – was part of Australia's side at the 2022 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Spain.
His expected arrival at North Melbourne will continue a host of AFL sides securing deals for ex-basketball talents across recent months, with West Coast winning the race for Queensland prospect Jake Miles-Wrency last week.
Adelaide also signed the highly rated Indy Cotton among a significant battle for his commitment last year, while Melbourne landed an ex-basketballer in Oscar Berry as a Category B rookie last June.
