MELBOURNE (Paulo Kennedy's View from Downunder) - One warm Townsville evening, an inquisitive young man ventured down to The Swamp.

Having just started playing basketball, he got there nice and early so he could see what the swamp creatures do.

Little did he know his own real fairytale was about to begin.

"I was sitting down on the baseline watching them shoot, Mike Kelly was shooting and he asked if I wanted to rebound," Townsville Crocs guard Mitch Norton said.

Then a six-year-old, Norton quickly cottoned on this was the life for him.

"You're seeing those guys coming in early and getting shots up and you think, 'That's way better than school or any other job,'" he said.

Week after week Norton turned up early and rebounded pre-game for Crocs stars like Kelly, Rob Rose and Sam Mackinnon until the swamp creatures invited him into their other lair.

"I was lucky enough Mike and Shane Froling, the assistant coach at the time, got me to go along to some of their trainings," he said.

"It started out floor sweeping and rebounding, as I got older I started joining in warm-up drills, it was pretty cool."

Early on, his exposure to the Crocs didn't help him so much in the local junior competition.

"It took a few years, the first year I fouled out of every game," he laughed.

But as the years progressed, Norton found himself light years ahead of the other kids.

"You'd sit there and listen to (the Crocs) talking about defensive rotations and stuff like that," he said.

"When you're in U12s you just follow the ball, so when our coach said we're going to try and play help defence I was like, 'Yep, I've got this down pat, I'm good to go.'"

Places in the Townsville rep team, North Queensland schools team and then national championship teams followed.

Unlike other youngsters in the same situation, Norton wasn't hoping his path would lead somewhere good, he knew exactly where his dreams would land him.

"I think being around that professional environment once or twice a week after school made me hungry to get to the top," he said.

In 2010, Norton landed in Hamburg, Germany for the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship as the vice-captain of Australia's team, leading his side in scoring and notching double figures in six of the eight games.

The next year, despite being underage, he worked his way into the starting five of the U19 national team alongside junior international superstars Mitch Creek, Hugh Greenwood and Anthony Drmic.

While tragedy struck in the form of a foot injury days before the start of the world championship, all the work Norton had done ensured the Crocs would save the day with a contract offer.

"It was a little bit surreal," Norton said of the day he reported for duty

"The first time I played in front of The Swamp I got on for about 30 seconds. I fell over twice, tripping over people's feet, it wasn't the best memory but it was great to be out there in front of my family and friends."

The 1.84m dynamo mentions coaches from Ian Stacker to Trevor Gleeson to Paul Woolpert and Shawn Dennis in helping his rapid development, but perhaps more important have been the point guards.

Learning from NBA veteran Eddie Gill, league MVP Gary Ervin and Euro-savvy Steve Markovic, Norton has fine-tuned his game.

"Eddie was so smart. He really knew where to get people shots and what plays to run, I tried to learn off him and work on my basketball IQ, and he helped me a lot with that," Norton said.

"Gary was really explosive and used his change of pace quite a lot, so I've taken bits and pieces from those two, and obviously Stevie is really strong, the way he uses his body is really helpful, and he’s given me a few tips of what to do and what not to do."

Last NBL season, after starting on Australia's silver-medal winning World University Games team and holding his own against future Euroleague and NBA talent, Norton had a career year with an impressive two-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.

This season, with Markovic hampered by injury, the 21-year-old has moved into a starting spot, the youngest Australian to regularly direct a team since Brendan Mann at the Canberra Cannons in 1997.

"It's been alright," Norton said of his introduction to the big time.

"The way Stevie has had my back throughout this period has been really helpful. He's always been supportive of me, and even though I've been starting a bit lately it hasn't affected him and he's been more supportive than ever."

For Norton, it's been a genuine chance to show he belongs in the company of Damian Martin, Cedric Jackson, Scottie Wilbekin, Adam Gibson, Jamar Wilson and Co.

While consistency is still a work in progress, he managed eight games scoring in double figures and 10 with four or more assists, and the man he thanks above all others is the one who started it all, now-Crocs assistant coach Mike Kelly.

"He's always there for the guys, showing us video, whatever we need he’s got our backs," Norton said.

"He does video, he works us out whenever we want, he's always there after training helping us."

And, poetically enough, there's one other thing Kelly is always good for as he pays off a long-running IOU.

"Mike's always there to rebound," Norton laughed.

Paulo Kennedy

FIBA

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