The Adelaide 36ers have made no secret of their desire to pack their roster with homegrown, South Australian talent, and new signing Ben Gristci has joined Lat Mayen and Jacob Rigoni in the club’s local contingent.

Griscti will embark on his rookie professional season following a trio of campaigns in the NCAA, which ended with a season at UC Riverside, prior to his decision to link up with his hometown club.

As a sharpshooting, stretch big, Gristci’s addition to the roster goes far beyond the mere fact he’s from Adelaide. He’s a genuine, NBL-level college talent with the potential to become a force in the competition.

The 21-year-old has one of the best possible mentors to learn from in Isaac Humphries, and he says he’s hoping to replicate the impact of the star 36ers center.

“I’m hoping to bring some shooting, bring some athletics, and bring some passion,” Griscti said. “Passion for the city, I’m all about this team and I want to be a club man and I’ve always gone for the 36ers and always wanted to be here.” 

“I really want to be a sponge and learn from Isaac and Dejan Vasiljevic, and everyone on the team who has had NBL experience because that’s the jump I need to make now, from college to NBL.

“I’ve had so many great mentors here in Adelaide for my basketball career, and watching Daniel Johnson, Isaac Humphries, other bigs who have played here, that’s who I wanted to be as a basketballer, so it’s a dream come true.”

Although this season will be Griscti’s first season as a 36er, he’s already familiar with the club, having spent time as a train-on player with the team while he was still in high school.

He was the target of a reported tug of war between basketball and South Australia’s AFL sides – Adelaide and Port Adelaide – given his background in football, but elected to continue his basketball career from college over making a code switch.

“I kept it an honest conversation in that I was pursuing basketball and me having a basketball background, it was a much more rational decision to stay true to the work I’ve put in over the last few years in America, especially since this was the dream, to be an Adelaide 36er,” he said.

“I had a taste of it in year 11 when I was a training player, just being around the club and trying to pick up some experience there, and I saw the guys run out in front of a sold-out Entertainment Centre and that’s when I was sold on it was what I wanted to do.

“So, when I do that for the first home game this season it will be a dream come true and I’ll try to keep the emotions in, but it’s something I’ve always been looking forward to doing one day.

“When footy came back and that opportunity presented itself, I looked at it but basketball is what I wanted to do. When I got the opportunity to come here it was a no-brainer from there.”

For all of his desire to achieve the on-court success of new teammate Humphries, Griscti has labelled a former NBL center as the benchmark for who he wants to replicate.

“Jock Landale, seeing how he developed in college after coming in as a freshman and not getting off to the strongest start, he put in the work as much as anyone else and how his career has gone,” Griscti said.

“From graduating from Saint Mary’s, playing in the NBL, and playing in the NBA, the pathway of doing it the long way is how Australians seem to get there sometimes.

“Jock Landale stretching the floor for his size and just being a great guy as well, I hear great reviews about his character, so looking up to him.”