But once the nerves died down, the 18-year-old from the tiny town of Adelong hopes training with Lauren Jackson at Border Bandits will help realise her own dreams of wearing the green and gold.

Also a post player, the former Wagga Blaze player is entering her second season with the NBL1 club and has the luxury of learning from the three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player.

Hassett is already regarded as one of the country's brightest up-and-coming 'bigs' after being invited to the Australian Gems' under-19 training camp held in Canberra on the weekend. The team to compete in the FIBA Oceania Championships will be selected at a later date.

"It was pretty intimidating (training with Jackson for first time). It's crazy I watched her when I was younger and now I'm training with her.

"She's so strong and just knows everything about the game, it's so good to have her experience around me.

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"It was shock, I guess, seeing her on court training and I was star struck. But once we started training she was just a normal person.

"She's told me to play strong and to be more physical. When someone makes a cut to be more physical, and finishing around the basket in contact."

Hassett will represent NSW Country under-20s in next month's national championships in Mackay, before she heads to America in August to begin playing for junior college division one outfit Eastern Florida.

"I went through a recruiting agent, she sent a video of me out to coaches and we spoke through Zoom, and they were the ones that appealed to me the most," she said.

"It was how much of a family they felt like and how they looked after each other, and it looked like a good environment."

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