One lucky coach could land the nearly seven foot tall Freshman

When Courtney Rosegreen went looking for shoes for his 15-year-old cousin, all he got were looks of shock at his request for size 21 sneakers.

"The biggest I found was a 17," Rosegreen recalled. "They said they couldn't even order them for me."

By the time this winter's high school basketball season starts, local fans may be the ones with surprised looks on their faces as they watch Rosegreen's cousin, 6-11 freshman-to-be Martin Iti, in action.

Iti, who was born in New Zealand's Cook Islands and raised in Australia's countryside, is in Las Vegas this summer, living with Rosegreen, his legal guardian in this country.

Along with area stars Kevin Gaines (Clark High School) and Demetrius Hunter (Cheyenne), Iti will spend the next week playing for local squad "Mad Moves" in the adidas Big Time Tournament.

And depending on what his cousins, Courtney and former UNLV standout Warren Rosegreen, decide, there's a distinct possibility the young man with the 7 1/2-foot wing span will spend his high school years in Las Vegas.

According to Iti, he and his mother -- who lives in Australia -- have already determined he will attend high school in the United States. Whether he remains in Southern Nevada or heads elsewhere, however, is still up in the air.

"If I had to guess, I'd say there's a good chance he might stay here," said Courtney, who has lived in Las Vegas for two years. "If I decide to stay here, he'll go to school here."

As to which school he might choose if he stays in town, Iti said it's still wide open.

"It's up to my cousin where he thinks is appropriate to send me," Iti said.

One interesting possibility has Courtney and Warren's younger brother, Junior Rosegreen -- a senior-to-be at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- joining Iti at a Las Vegas-area high school in the fall.

If that happens, one of the local schools would inherit quite an athletic package, since the youngest Rosegreen is one of the top prep football players in Florida.

"(Junior) wants to go to school with Martin, but we'll see what happens," Courtney said.

Iti and his cousins first began discussing the possibility of a move to the United States when Iti visited Las Vegas last December. When the youngster stepped off the airplane, he received the first of many stunned looks to follow -- from Courtney himself.

"I hadn't seen him in years, and when I saw him I was like 'Oh my god,' Courtney said. "His mother said he had grown, but I didn't know he'd grown that much."

Courtney and Warren began working Iti out to see what type of basketball skills he possessed. And although he had spent the past five years playing against weak Australian competition on junior high school and club teams, the cousins noted that their young relative had talent.

"I was surprised," Courtney said. "I wasn't expecting anything from a 14-year-old kid. He can dribble, he can catch, he can shoot. He just lacks playing experience and strength."

Iti proved his abilities at the recent Five-Star Camp in Virginia, earning praise from coaches for holding his own against bigger, more experienced high school athletes. And Courtney began to notice a change in his cousin's confidence level.

"When he got here, he didn't understand that for a guy that tall, he's really coordinated," Courtney said. "(After the Five-Star Camp), he started to ask me if I thought he could play over here."

And after thinking back to how difficult it had been to find a mail-order company willing to send Iti shoes, Courtney gave his cousin an answer.

"I told him, 'I don't know of any other 15-year-old with size 21 feet over here," he said.

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