Walking in the footsteps of the best basketball players in the country is what Rewi Mcpherson wants to achieve.
Today, he and his Northland Suns team mates took that step further at the New Zealand Breakers Basketball Experience.
With Tai Wynyard's shoes, Rewi McPherson hopes to charge into becoming a future champ in basketball.
"We came from up North to develop our skills," says McPherson.
This is the Northland Suns' first visit to New Zealand Breakers' practice, giving McPherson the opportunity to meet Wynyard again.
Tai Wynyard says, “I think he's like one of my long distance cousins or something and seeing them come down to the gym from up North is pretty cool.”
A family connection they formed when they first met at the under 17's age group competition last year.
"He's size 17, I'm size 18, so I gave him some of my old shoes. He was looking for some and I played against him in under 17's so I just chucked him a couple of pairs and now he's wearing them today," says Wynyard.
Northland Suns organiser Aaron Sadler is looking for positive avenues for the youth of Northland, and he believes that Rewi is on the right track.
Aaron Sadler says, “Rewi is massive aye, he's an awesome role model, he's come through from the far far north and he's got a bit of a following up there, so he's dedicated, he works hard and he is what can be found when people go looking!”
Getting to this level and hopefully the NBA are my dreams.
The plan is to apply the lessons from this experience to their lives. In the words of Sadler, "One more child on this court, is one less in the high courts."