Keli Leaupepe carved his own path to the NBL after being unable to earn a scholarship to Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence.

The versatile forward spent four years at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), delivering a solid performance in his junior season, where he averaged 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

As he prepares to take the court for the Sydney Kings this season, Dan Boyce caught up with him to find out what he's working on, why he chose to play for the Kings and what motivates him.

Visit dunk.com.au for your next set of basketball uniforms.

Topics include...

• How he’s preparing for his debut NBL season (2:00)

• Playing junior basketball for Australia (5:00)

• His experiences playing in college (10:00)

• How he first gained the attention of NBL coaches (13:00)

• Choosing between playing for the Kings or the Taipans (14:00)

• What Keli gets up to off the court (19:00)

• The art of the screen as a big man (25:00)

• Thoughts on being coached by Brian Goorjian (27:00)

• What he expects his role to be with the Kings (29:00)

• The highs and lows of his career so far (31:00)

Head to Aussie Hoopla to check out previous podcasts featuring;

Australian Basketball Legends - Luc Longley, Andrew Gaze, Shane Heal, Mark Bradtke, Leroy Loggins, David Andersen, Andrew Vlahov, Phil Smyth, CJ Bruton, Chris Anstey, Brett Maher, Sam MacKinnon, John Rillie, Tony Ronaldson, Damian Martin, Brad Newley

Current NBL Stars - Bryce Cotton, Chris Goulding, Tyler Harvey, Dejan Vasiljevic, Thomas Abercrombie, Daniel Johnson, Jason Cadee, Mitch McCarron, Anthony Drmic, Luke Travers, Sam Froling, Jesse Wagstaff

Our Finest Coaching Minds - Brian Goorjian, Barry Barnes, Joey Wright, Adrian Hurley, Aaron Fearne, Rob Beveridge, Ian Stacker, Shawn Dennis, Dean Vickerman, Trevor Gleeson, Lindsey Gaze, Ken Cole, Will Weaver, Bruce Palmer

NBA Stars Past & Present - Andrew Bogut, Matthew Dellavedova, Stephen Jackson, Randy Livingston, Torrey Craig, Jack White, Acie Earl, Josh Childress, Reggie Smith, Todd Lichti, Ryan Broekhoff, Doug Overton

The NBL's Greatest Imports - Darryl McDonald, Ricky Grace, Derek Rucker, Leon Trimmingham, Scott Fisher, Lanard Copeland, Dwayne McClain, Darnell Mee, Shawn Redhage, Al Green, Steve Woodberry, Doug Overton, Kevin Lisch

And the men who run things - Larry Kestelman, Mal Speed, Paul Maley, Vince Crivelli, Jeremy Loeliger, Chris Pongrass, Jeff Van Groningen, Bob Turner, Danny Mills

All that and much more.

Follow @AussieHoopla on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or email us at [email protected]