SANCTUARY Point product Kyle Zunic has continued his ascendancy on the hardwood, by producing a strong sophomore season with the Winthrop University Eagles.
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Zunic's guard play steered is side to third place in the Big South Conference with an 18-11 record on the season.
Unfortunately, all their strong play went out the window in the first round of the conference play-offs, when they lost their quarter-final showdown with Charleston Southern 77-63.
Despite this disappointing ending, the 20-year-old took a lot of positives from the season in the United States.
"I think we played great as a unit all year - we were a very unselfish team that really cared about each other," Zunic said.
"It was one of the most fun teams to be around and I think we played pretty well all year overall.
"From a personal perspective, I was very happy with my season.
"I thought I played much more consistently over the whole year and it was a year where I just gained so much more experience, especially playing against teams like Kentucky and Florida State - it was just so good to play against some of the best teams in the country."
Upon reflecting on year two, the former Sanctuary Point Public School student thoroughly enjoyed his second season in the Eagles colours.
"This season was different to the first because I was able to stay on the court for the whole season," he said.
"My injuries were very limited and it was a great year because of that.
"Also, I knew what was coming this year and that made it much more easy when I played this year."
As one who has never bee shy of the big stage, Zunic revelled in the chance to take on John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats.
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"My favourite memory from year two would be playing at Kentucky," he said.
"It's always been a dream of mine to play against a school like that and to get the opportunity to do that in such a big stadium, it's something that I'll never forget."
In his 17 games as a starter, Zunic averaged 10.3 points, five rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while shooting at 41 per cent from the field.
Zunic has now returned back to Australia for his session break, where he will rest up before ramping up training ahead of his junior season.
"During the break, coach Pat Kelsey just wants me to work on my shot and get up as many as I can, making sure to continue to work on it," he said.
"He also wants me to work on my ball handling, so that it is easier for me out there and so I don't have as many turnovers next year which is a big key for me.
"In year three,the big goal is the same as most years which is to get into the tournament by winning our conference.
"On top of that, the goal is to just keep getting better as a group because we have about seven new guys coming into the team next season
"So getting better within our system throughout the year will be a big focus for our team."