Adam Caporn was only the start of the Australian influence at St. Mary’s.

Caporn was looking to come to an American college in 2001 so he could get more basketball experience while also getting a degree, a concept not common in Australia. He agreed to come to St. Mary’s before visiting the school because of a phone call he had with head coach Randy Bennett.

‘Things were going so well for us, and the team was starting to play so well,’ Caporn said. ‘It just sort of snowballed from there.’

Snowball it did. Caporn is now an assistant coach with the school he played for from 2001-03. And in his first season as an assistant, St. Mary’s (17-3) has earned its first Top 25 ranking since January 2009. And after a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournament last season, St. Mary’s has snowballed to a spot on the national radar.

Since Caporn’s arrival, St. Mary’s has become a haven for Australian basketball players looking to get an education. Since 2001, 10 players have moved across the Pacific to play basketball in Moraga, Calif., for the Gaels.

Caporn was the beginning of the Australian integration in the Gaels roster back in 2001. The following year, Caporn’s friend and former teammate Daniel Kickert joined him. This year, four of St. Mary’s players — guards Matthew Dellavedova and Jorden Page and forwards Clint Steindl and Mitchell Young — hail from Australia.

Since Caporn first arrived 10 years ago, a St. Mary’s following has grown in Australia. While basketball fans across the United States were mesmerized by the surprising success of the unranked team last season when the Gaels reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, the sentiments were mirrored halfway around the globe.

Caporn, who was in Australia at the time before taking the assistant job this season, said the nation was following along just as avidly.

‘It had a big following in Australia because St. Mary’s was doing well,’ he said. ‘It’s like a brand of basketball in Australia.’

The Aussies bring a slightly different style of play to the team, which stems in large part from the 24-second shot clock used internationally, the sophomore Dellavedova said.

‘It makes the game flow a little bit more,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t say it’s a faster pace because people are pretty fast over here, but there’s probably a little bit more one-on-one in America.’

St. Mary’s is a high-scoring team, scoring more than 70 points in all but two games this season. The key to its offensive success is its movement of the ball.

Caporn said unselfish passing was the team’s biggest asset, without which the Gaels would not be so successful. The ball movement is in part a result of the team’s Australian influences.

‘We use a lot of on-ball (screens) and share the ball, which I think are characteristics of Australian basketball,’ Dellavedova said.

In his first year coaching at his alma mater, Caporn has been part of the exciting ascent of the team. An 89-70 loss at then-unranked Vanderbilt Saturday dropped the Gaels out of the Top 25. Yet the team is still atop the WCC, going undefeated in the conference so far.

The ranking came with a price. St. Mary’s started to notice in the game against the Commodores. Opponents step up their game to play Top 25 teams.

‘I think people were surprised this year,’ Caporn said. ‘After the run last year and now being ranked, everyone’s ready to play us. We’ve got a target on our back. That makes things a little more different. You get everybody’s best game.’

After defeating then-No. 22 St. Mary’s, Vanderbilt jumped from unranked to No. 19. The loss and the drop in rank came right before the first of two games against conference rival Gonzaga.

Rob Jones, one of the Gaels’ U.S. natives from San Francisco, knows how important the Gaels’ games with Gonzaga are. And coming off a loss, he knows the team must get back to basics.

St. Mary’s must return to its international hybrid.

‘We gotta get back to playing how we play,’ Jones said. ‘Make sure we take care of the ball, rebound the ball well, playing basketball the way St. Mary’s plays.’

alguggen@syr.edu