Adelaide Crows sign Aussie basketball prodigy in coup for AFL

Looks like Bryce won’t be the only Cotton in South Australia this year after the Adelaide Crows announced the signing of Queensland basketball prodigy Indy Cotton as a Category B Rookie.

The 18-year-old has been one of the standouts in junior basketball in the country, most recently playing for Queensland at the National Under-20 Championships, where he was fifth in the tournament in scoring, averaging 21.3 points a game.

Most recently he joined Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry at an Under Armour camp in China.

Indy is the son of Port Adelaide inaugural AFL squad member Jarrod, who played four games for the Power and has since been in the coaching ranks across multiple SANFL clubs, as well as being a development coach on the Gold Coast.

Crows list manager Justin Reid said Cotton was an exciting prospect who could play a long career in the AFL.

“We’re delighted to be Indy’s club of choice,” Reid said.

“He’s an extremely talented kid who, despite a few years out of the game has all the ingredients to succeed at AFL level.”

“His footballing pedigree clearly evident from his father, and we firmly believe he can eb a hugely valuable addition to our squad.”

Cotton, who reportedly had eight AFL clubs chasing his signature, also had a number of high-major US colleges offers to consider. The Gold Coast Rollers junior caught up with basketball.com.au earlier this week about his future.

"It’s been a extremely hard decision to make, but I think mum and dad have said it best when they said 'no matter what way you go, you get to do something you love every single day, which not everyone is blessed to do'," he said.

"Some days are going to be extremely hard either way but doing something you love is unbelievable and having mentors like Anthony Petrie, Jason Cadee and Phil Smyth — I have been extremely blessed to have them in my life as they have gone through similar situations. But most importantly praying and leaning on God for a lot of guidance in all aspects of my life I can’t be more blessed."

Adelaide finished first in this year’s home-and-away season and host Collingwood next Thursday in a home qualifying final.