Ten years ago, any young athlete who excelled in two sports would pick footy nine times out of 10.

These days it’s not such an easy choice.

Luke Jackson is a 16-year-old from Canning Vale with both the basketball and football worlds at his feet.

Basketball was his first love, the game he followed his brothers into before moving past them in both height and ability.

Coming through the ranks at the Willetton Tigers, the rebounding forward’s talent was rewarded with State and national selections.

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In the past six months he’s helped WA win gold at the under-18 championships, then guided Australia’s under-16 team to gold at the FIBA Asian Championships and will look to do the same at the under-17 World Cup, starting in Argentina on Saturday.

Then there was football.

He drew the interest of East Fremantle while playing juniors for Willetton and then Bullcreek-Leeming.

That led to a trial with the WA under-16 team and he was pitched straight into the ruck at last year’s national championships.

WA won the title and Jackson was offered a spot in the AFL Academy program.

Despite still being only 16 and barely playing any football between championships, he led the ruck in the State’s two opening games of this year’s under-18 titles and earned comparisons to Nic Naitanui for his athleticism and follow-up work.

Camera Icon Luke Jackson playing for Australia at the 2018 FIBA under-16 Asian championships basketball. Credit: fiba.basketball

The AIS basketball program is keen for him to move to Canberra next year and begin a pathway which could lead to college in the US and, potentially, a shot at the NBA.

The AFL wants him to commit to footy and play a year in the colts. So do the club recruiters, who already view him as a top-end draft pick in 2019.

Jackson has committed to making a decision when he gets back from the World Cup next month. But he’s still no closer to figuring out the “right” choice.

“Basketball has competitions around the world — NBA, Europe — I’ve been thinking about that lately. But with footy, I’d love to stay in Australia and with the family as well,” he said.

“It will come down to how much I enjoy both sports and where I see myself in like 10 years. That’s pretty much it.”

Making it to the NBA was once an almost impossible task for local talent, with one in 1000 making the grade.

But the emergence of Australian stars like Ben Simmons and Mirrabooka-raised Thon Maker and alternative pathways forged by players like Joe Ingles mean the NBA seems closer than ever.

Perth Wildcats assistant coach Adam Forde has seen a lot of Jackson over the past couple of years and believes an NBA opportunity could be there for him if he wants it enough.

“Someone who has achieved so much already, can NBA be a target? Absolutely,” Forde said.

“There’s guys in the NBA from Australia right now that haven’t achieved what he’s done in his young junior career. He has every right to set the bar really high and work hard for it.”

Camera Icon Jackson has a big choice to make. Credit: Mogens Johansen/The West Australian

People like Hugh Greenwood, who played college basketball in America before returning to football with Adelaide three seasons ago, have also showed that there will always be a path back to the AFL as well.

But ask those in the football industry, like WA’s State talent manager Adam Jones, and they believe the next few years could be the difference between Jackson being a handy player and an absolute star.

“His performances in the first two games of our championships and the positive reinforcement that (coach Peter Sumich) gave him, hopefully that gives him a good understanding of where he stands and that he could have a really big future in football,” Jones said.

“There’s a lot of positivity towards what he’s done. He’s still got some development but as a rare ruckman, if he gets to that genuine size, then he could be potentially a high pick.”

It’s an enviable position for any young man.

“As a kid I always wanted to make a living out of sport. For it to be right around the corner is pretty cool,” Jackson said.