United sign one of Australia's top prospects

Melbourne United announced on Friday the signing of one of Australia's rising young talents, Jai Fa'ale, as a Development Player for the Hungry Jack's NBL27 Season.

The Victorian guard is coming off an exciting 12 months of basketball, having represented Australia at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup, where he claimed a gold medal and was named to the tournament's All-Star Five.

He also helped Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence to a 13-7 record in the NBL1 East, where he led the team in scoring at 21.2 points per game.

Ahead of his return to Melbourne, Fa'ale touched on his eagerness to take this next step in his basketball career.

"When this option came up, it was clear that it was the best thing for my development as a basketball player," Fa'ale said.

"I'm excited to get back home and compete against pros every day.

"I'm going to be a sponge, take in all the information and lessons I can, and help the team across the course of the season.

"Learning from guys that have had success at the level I want to be at, like Cole Anthony and Chris Goulding, is going to be huge, and to be able to do that around my family will be pretty special.

"On top of it all, I want to help this team win a championship.

"That's the number one goal at United, and I'm excited to be a part of it."

Despite just turning 18, United coach Jacob Chance believes the Bundoora product has the potential to grow into a dangerous player, further opening the door for future opportunities both with United and abroad.

"I think he's a great young talent that can really score the ball in a bunch of different ways," Chance said.

"He just adds to our guard depth that we're already really happy about with the recent additions of Will [Hynes] and Aussie [Shelley], along with fellow DP Christian D'Angelo.

"[It's] great to have a young Melbourne talent in the program.

"He's going to take a lot from it, and that's a similar kind of pathway that we had young Joe Foxwell do a couple of years ago, and we think it's a beneficial pathway for both parties."

United hosts Adelaide in the NBL27 season-opener at John Cain Arena on Saturday from 7.30pm AEST, live on ESPN, 9Go! and 9Now.