EIGHT American athletes will trial in front of AFL recruiters and list bosses next week in Dallas as clubs scour the world for tall talents.
Collingwood, St Kilda, Gold Coast, Hawthorn and Geelong will all be on deck in America for the three-day international Combine next week.
Volleyballers Jared Piontkowski and Jacob Guerber have been selected to test, with Piontkowski a 209cm 22-year-old from Pennsylvania. Guerber is a 24-year-old athletic talent at 209cm who plays volleyball in Arizona.
The other six athletes who will be vying for category B rookie spots are all largely from basketball backgrounds.
The 206cm Pierce Davis is from Sacramento and will be there, as will 211cm Hayden Curtiss. Curtiss played soccer as a junior before switching to basketball, with the 22-year-old known for his quick movement.
Malik Lamin, from Utah, is also recorded at 211cm and has grown up playing basketball and football, while Iowa’s Joshua Van Gorp stands at 209cm and rose to prominence as a college basketballer.
The AFL targeted players who were 206cm and above, with Radford University’s D’Auntray Pierce reaching that mark and will be looking to show his agility to clubs.
The tallest player in the group will be 213cm giant Zane Foster, from Northwest Nazarene University. Foster was a track and field athlete at high school but has played basketball through his time at college to now be on the radar of AFL clubs.
The club representatives will also spend time with NFL side Dallas Cowboys, NBA team Dallas Mavericks and MLS soccer team FC Dallas.
