CHENNAI// Indian basketball is set to take a big step forward this month when Geethu Anna Jose becomes the country's first player to attend tryouts for an American professional league.
In a span of eight days, the 25-year-old centre will have training sessions with the Chicago Sky, Los Angeles Sparks and San Antonio Silver Stars of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), considered the top women's league in the world.
"There is pressure and high expectations," said Jose, who stands 6ft 2ins (188cm) in height.
"The Indian basketball community is excited, but then, it is also my dream and I am going to go out there and give it my best shot."
Jose, who hails from the state of Kerala, is easily the biggest draw in Indian basketball and was the top scorer in the previous two Fiba Asian championships.
In the last, held in India in 2009, she averaged 22 points per game to help her team stay in the Elite Level 1 group. India finished sixth in the 12-nation competition.
Jose is looking to draw from her experience of playing as a professional for three seasons for Ringwood Hawks in Australia's Big V Basketball as she eyes a WBNA breakthrough.
"The inside game is very hard outside India," Jose said. "The players there are really tough.
"My three years in Australia have given me a lot of confidence and I'd think it was there that my dream of playing in the WNBA was born."
Jose's Australian opportunity came after she caught the eye of the Hawks coach Tim Mottin during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, she said.
It was in that tournament that she first had a chance to play against Australian centre and WNBA star Lauren Jackson, who has been her inspiration since.
"She's simply astonishing," Jose said. "For one who is 6-foot-5 (195.6cm), she covers the court with amazing speed and can score from almost anywhere. Against us, she was on court for just 20 minutes and scored 40 points."
Her encounter with Jackson also served as eye-opener for what it takes to play in the WNBA.
Troy Justice, the director of basketball for NBA India, helped set up Jose's tryouts as part of the league's efforts to promote the game in the nation of 1.2 billion people.
"Her skill set is very advanced," Justice said.
"Her approach, her professionalism, puts her in a position where she is the type of person we want in the WNBA."
According to the Basketball Federation of India, an estimated 4.5 million people play the game in India.
If Jose earns a spot on one of the WNBA teams, "I think it will bring national exposure to the sport of basketball," Justice said.
"It will create a new awareness to many more in the country, create a landmark and represent a new opportunity and a new idea that others could do it also."
