Lake Ginninderra College captain Mitch Brown had a front row seat to the "pretty crazy" Dante Exum show as the NBA-bound star led them to last year's Australian Schools Championships title.
And while there won't be film crews stalking them or huge crowds at their title defence in Canberra next week, Lake Ginninderra College's class of 2014 wants to forge their own reputations.
Exum's presence at Melbourne last year attracted widespread international coverage and his every move was filmed by leading US sports web site Bleacher Report.
It was unprecedented hype for a school event, and it's ironic the depleted Lakers will play in front of smaller crowds than the 2000-plus in Melbourne.
"I've never experienced so much passion for one player in a building, it was pretty crazy," Brown said.
"As soon as Dante walked in everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, I'd never seen that.
"It was exciting for us as a team but we knew it was for Dante, there wasn't any pressure for us and not hard to block out.
"There'll be a few less cameras, but that's probably better for us."
Lake Ginninderra coach Jason Denley doesn't expect the scenes they were presented with last year to happen any time soon.
"One of the great stories was one of our pool games, they pulled out a 2000-seat stand for the crowd to watch the game and it quickly filled up," Denley said.
"Ten minutes after we finished the game the stadium was empty and they were putting the stand away.
"It was wonderful not only for our school to be part of that, but for basketball in general.
"It will probably be a long while before we see that again."
Dubbed the NBA draft's "mystery man" before he was taken by Utah at pick five, combo guard Exum has wasted no time justifying his reputation.
He's graduated from slam dunking over school kids to playing so well in the NBA, some US experts are urging the Jazz to promote him to the starting line-up.
The Lakers face a tougher challenge this year with Exum and star forward Jack McVeigh moving on to bigger things, plus a couple of untimely injuries and withdrawals.
Their intended 'go to' player, former Vic Metro star Abi Akintola, was called into the Australian Emus under-19 team for next week's Oceania championships in Fiji after McVeigh withdrew with tonsillitis.
Local junior Bul Kuol and Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence scholarship holder Jock Perry are out injured, meaning the Lakers face a tough task to be competitive with the best sides.
They will also be without key scorer from last year Rob Colton, who is now playing for Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco.
"He was certainly was one of the players who benefited from playing alongside Dante and the exposure he gave him," Denley said.
"It's not only the exposure Dante has had, it's had a positive impact on his teammates as well.
"We're scrambling a bit more this year but it's great to be defending the tournament at home, that's for sure."
Over 1300 players will converge on the championships, tipping off with Lake Ginninderra's clash with St Francis Xavier on Sunday night at Tuggeranong Stadium from 7pm.
Daramalan College have elected to bypass the women's top division and will compete in the under-20s event.
A full draw is available on Basketball Australia's website. Watch Bleacher Report footage of Exum at last year's schools championships here.
