Two seasons in with the Miners and Jordan Lingard feels like Ballarat is home.
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Originally from Colac, the 25-year-old joined the Miners ahead of the 2019 season after some dominant form in the Big V with Warrnambool.
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"I really enjoy Ballarat as a town as a whole," he told The Courier.
"I love it here, Colac's only 10,000ish people, it's (Ballarat) a very big step up from there.
"I've lived in Los Angeles and I'm not really the biggest sky scraping city living (fan), so I love it here.
"I could see myself here for a long time."
Lingard immediately become a fan favourite, the 200cm big man bringing energy and effort off the bench as the Miners played off in a preliminary final against Nunawading.
It's a role he relishes in a strong system set by head coach Brendan Joyce.
"We all know our roles, Brendan is very vocal in what he expects from us and we all know what we expect from each other," he said.
"Our team persona (is) one person in, one person out. If you come in and you're not doing your part, it's diminishing what we're trying to achieve on the night."
At just 25, Lingard has had his fair share of homes due to basketball, the Miners his most recent stop.
He grew up in Colac and played under-20's and under-23's for the Geelong Supercats.
He joined National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics school Menlo, based just outside of San Francisco.
After two years there, Lingard transferred to Whittier College in 2016, a division three school in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, based in Los Angeles.
He played 44 games in two seasons for the school, graduating with career averages of 3.7 points, 3.2 rebounds and 46 percent shooting from the field.
He returned to Australia with a Bachelors of Kinesiology and Nutrition Science.
Once back in Australia, Lingard was met with a surprising request to meet with the Geelong Cats recruiting staff, who were excited by the prospect of signing the 200cm basketballer as a category B rookie.
He met with key members of the recruiting staff who gave him a tour of the club.
"We had a big lunch there, (they showed) me around the oval, the lockerooms, all their facilities," Lingard said.
"It was a really, really cool experience that I was kind of overwhelmed with.
"If basketball fell through who knows what could have happened?"
Entering the meeting, footy was never on Lingard's agenda, but he warmed to the idea.
"If you asked me before the (meeting) I would've told you no straight up," he said.
"After talking to them ... I was like which way should I go?
"If it wasn't for Ballarat wanting to pick me up and getting very keen ... I don't know which way I would have went."
Lingard hasn't put a line through the opportunity post his basketball career.
"If I was still in shape ... I'd most likely have a look to see if I've still got it ... would be a cool avenue to explore after basketball."
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