The sharpshooter, who helped the Shoalhaven Tigers win the Waratah League YLM crown in 2018, has dreamed on taking his talents abroad since the age of 12.

"During my time playing juniors for the Shoalhaven Tigers and Illawarra Hawks, I wondered how amazing it would be to go overseas and play with the high-flying and athletic players in the United States," Leslie said.

"I always had it in my mind to go over there but never actually thought I was smart enough or even good enough to go over there.

"But in year 10, I signed with Custom College Recruiting (CCR), the same agency as Josh Watts [currently at Castleton University in Vermont] - which is when the whole process really started."

Despite signing on with CCR, the former Nowra Anglican College student didn't get any offers at first, as he was deemed too young.

As a result, he concentrated on the American College Testing (ACT) and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), to ensure he got a strong score for potential coaches.

"As well as the school side of things, I took statistics and made videos of my highlights, which were the fun part," he said.

"I had help doing these two things by CCR and my Shoalhaven Tigers coach Scott Balser, who supplied me with the game tapes."

Following all this, it wasn't until the end of his year 12 at NAC, that he received his offer - leading to him being approach by a number of systems.

He received offers from a variety of leagues including National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics division one and two colleges, National Junior College Athletic Association and National Collegiate Athletic Association division two and three teams.

"I tried not to think about the offers but how I would fit into the college, get a good education and best develop my game," Leslie said.

After shifting through all the offers with his parents, Leslie finally decided on NCAA division two college Davis and Elkins College, West Virginia.

"I had in my head that I'd rather be either near Virginia, where few of my cousins live, or along the West Coast, as it is close to home," he said.

"This college [Davis and Elkins College] was the first division two school who approached me and was really interested from the beginning - making my family and I feel like I were in good hands being in a great location, only three hours from my cousins.

"My top priority was a studying exercise science and kinesiology, while also playing an exciting style of basketball for a team, that has a solid schedule full of great competition and exhibition games against division one teams.

"I was able to capture a 60 per cent scholarship over the four years, but for me it wasn't about the offer, it was more about feeling comfortable in a relaxed environment of being in a small populated school with lots of support from the community and faculty members and coaches around."

Before heading over to join Nick Patella's team in August, Leslie, who will be playing as a forward in the US, has had a number of chats with his future coach about what role he will have in the side.

"As a freshmen, you don’t generally get much court time," he said.

"He’s let me know that my first couple of years, while I'll get solid training and access to the same facilities as all the rest of team, I'll be playing against guys three to four years older than myself and that it may take me a while to get used to the different style of quick basketball and may not get many minutes.

"Although he did say if I earn my spot early and stand out in training, than I could have a chance of court time.

"From a personal point of view, I've tried to have as little expectations as possible except for the fact that I'll be getting great training and a lot of it - six days a week of basketball and weight training.

"I'm going in there with an open mind, so I can adapt quicker to different obstacles or challenges."

Before heading off though, Leslie, who credits coaches Balsar and Ben Morris for getting him to where he is today, will once again don the Tigers uniform, as his youth league mean start their season this Saturday at Newcastle.

"The Cubs have been looking really promising after the pre-season tournament, where we won two of the three games against top division one teams, " he said.

"Our team is a young and hungry group that wins by pure teamwork - we have guys who can shoot, rebound, pass, steal the ball, and get out and run the fast break, which is where many of our points come from.

"I really think the team has great chemistry and great potential as we all play for each other, which in the end, will hopefully put us in the playoffs as the ultimate goal."