Albury-Wodonga Bandits sign Mitchell Dance of New Zealand for 2021 season

At 19-years-old, Mitchell Dance has represented the Tall Blacks as a junior and is coming off the back of a stint in Tasmania.

The small forward also boasts experience in the US, having played high school basketball with Prolific Prep.

With the COVID-19 pandemic altering his decision to give the college basketball system a go, Dance admitted he's excited to see where a season with the Bandits may lead to.

"For me, it's just the beginning of my career hopefully and I'll use this to pave my way," he said.

"The New Zealand representative stuff has helped, but after a solid season with the Bandits, who knows what could come out of it.

"I have family here so it's just kind of worked out to be the best of both worlds."

It won't be the first time Dance has played on border courts.

"I came here for the Country Cup about seven years ago so it was when I was still a bit raw," he said.

"I'd just started playing basketball, so it's good to be back and getting familiar again with the facilities."

Dance hopes to bring a lot of energy to the court in what will be his first taste of the NBL1 competition.

"Being quite a young player, I love when the crowd, especially the locals, get involved," he said.

"I've had a few mentors and people I look up to in New Zealand play here in the NBL1, so they've passed down their experiences."

Bandits coach Brad Chalmers said he's excited to have Dance onboard.

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"He's on an upward path and for us to be able to bring him to Albury-Wodonga is fantastic," Chalmers said.

"He's sort of been a man amongst boys at a junior level.

"His game is going to look to evolve through 2021.

"We'll have a young feel about us at times, potentially for the whole year or the first part of the year.

"Having Mitch is a real added benefit in that."

This season has the potential to be the first in decades that the Bandits won't have any import players due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Chalmers admitted the ability to have imports is still up in the air.

"When I was involved 20 odd years ago we've always had them," he said.

"We'll keep our ears to the ground and see what the league enables us to do.

"Having guys like Mitch and some other signings to come, we feel really good about what we're going to be able to do once the season starts.

"We feel really good with where we're at."

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