Young Mandurah Basketball star Fletcher Klasztorny is taking his talents to the United States next month, after putting pen to paper on a one-year deal to play at North Dakota State College of Science.
The Mandurah Magic rookie has had a breakout season playing in the State Basketball League this year, and drew the eyes of about 100 junior colleges after emailing out his application.
After narrowing it down to a shortlist of 10, Klasztorny deemed the North Dakota school the best fit for him.
“I would have sent out roughly 500 emails and one morning I just woke up with about 100 replies – I was just gobsmacked.” he said.
“I narrowed it down to about 10 and North Dakota stood out for me.”
A Mandurah product through and through, Klasztorny started his basketball life playing under 13s at the early age of just nine-years-old.
From there he made his way through countless programs with the Mandurah Basketball Association, playing his junior days in their WABL system before signing his first State Basketball League contract as an under 16.
But the keyway-loving forward took a year away from the sport in 2016, trading the courts for a footy field playing colts with Peel Thunder.
The change of sport eventually brought Klasztorny to a fork in the road, posing him an ultimatum between football and basketball.
Making a choice wasn’t easy.
“Footy’s fun but basketball is where the heart is,” he said.
“I loved my time at Peel Thunder. The coaches are great and I made plenty of friends, but I’m a basketballer.”
Klasztorny’s family is entrenched in Mandurah’s basketball scene. His older sisters Emma and Bree both play in the Magic’s women’s team, while fellow older sister Mel is involved in the club.
The local lad paid homage to both his family and club, saying they had given him the best opportunity to succeed in the sport.
“My older sister Bree has been great, she’s always kept me on the straight and narrow, kept me in the gym and kept me out of trouble,” he said.
“Our captain Taylor Mullenax – I’ve learnt way more off him than anyone could ever imagine. And playing under a guy like [coach] Aaron Trahair, who’s done so much with basketball in Australia, has just been amazing.”
Klasztorny’s time with the Magic has seen his game develop from a score-first mindset to a more team-orientated approach.
This season has him averaging six points, five rebounds and two assists per game while shooting at 46 per cent from the field.
But now he will be thrown out of his comfort zone and into a whole new system, playing under new mentors at America’s collegiate level.
“I’ve never even been outside of Australia so to be living in a different country is a huge change for me,” he said.
“But honestly, I’m just looking forward to getting over there and expanding my game, learning new things and playing in a new system.”
Klasztorny’s contract is a one-year deal with an option for two, allowing him to be recruited by division one schools at the end of the first.
He hopes to have flown out by Friday, August 18 at the latest.