Prince’s journey to the USA and back again to India
For someone who now leads India’s national team into its most important tournament in years, Pranav Prince almost didn’t play basketball at all.
He was ten when he picked up a basketball for the first time, more out of curiosity than ambition. “I didn’t even know basketball existed,” he admits. “My dad’s friend just said, ‘Your son is tall. Let him try it.’” He did. And something clicked.
Growing up in Kerala, Prince had no access to indoor facilities, elite coaching, or professional pathways.
Still, he stuck with it. And when scouts from the newly formed NBA Academy India came to town, Prince joined hundreds of hopefuls at open trials. He made the top 20, but wasn’t selected.
The following year, after continued progress at state and national championships, he was invited to the final round of trials again. This time, he made it in.
At the Academy, everything changed. Prince was exposed to world-class coaching, strength and conditioning, recovery protocols, and, most importantly, possibilities.
“They told me I could be the next big thing in Indian basketball,” he recalls. “That was the first time I believed this could be more than just a way to get a government job. I could inspire people from my community. I could be something.”
That belief took him all the way to the United States on a scholarship to First Love Christian Academy in Pennsylvania, where he trained against top prep-level competition and sharpened his skills. But India was never far away.
In fact, it was during a summer break from his studies that Prince’s connection to the national team reignited. “I was just coming back for summer vacation,” he recalls, “but I wanted to practice. The best practice you can get in India is with the national team, of course.” He reached out to the coach, hoping to train for a couple of weeks before returning to the U.S.
“I told him, ‘I’m not saying I’m coming to be in the team. I just want to practice,’” Prince explains. But after just two weeks on the court, his performance spoke for itself. The coach encouraged him to extend his stay, and soon, he was officially part of the squad.
That swift transition led to Prince’s senior national team debut at just 17, at a fateful Asia Cup qualifier in Dubai where he broke his wrist from a hard fall just minutes after coming into the game for the first time.