NBL Commissioner Jeremy Loeliger has confirmed the league is talking with numerous USA prospects about joining the Next Stars program next season.

Americans such as LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton have come through Next Stars and Loeliger, who has recently returned from a trip to NBA All-Star Weekend, says positive discussions are occurring about more Americans playing down under.

“We have several ongoing discussions with potential US Next Stars for next season,” Loeliger told Newscorp.

“Some are new, some are continuing after more than 12 months of ongoing discussions.

“We are in conversation with plenty of prospects, which is no doubt helped by the fact that numerous events during All-Star Weekend involved at least one former NBL player.

“The program has built such great recognition and reputation since I was last there a couple of years ago.”

Loeliger added the program has been getting lauded by the NBA industry.

“The feedback for the Next Stars program was hugely positive from all corners. The most frequent comment was ‘congratulations’, followed by, ‘it‘s clearly now a proven concept that has had great success’, and thirdly, ‘how can we help?’,” he said.

The NBL has grown into one of the best leagues in the world and Loeliger says people at All-Star Weekend were keen on getting involved in the competition.

“It was like a domino effect – each conversation led to another and another,” Loeliger said.

“We‘re a hot topic and there was no shortage of people and companies from all aspects of the industry wanting to get involved somehow and get exposure to our growth.”