CHONGQING, CHINA — It's been a whirlwind few months for Australian guard Emilija Dakic, fresh off graduating from the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence, ahead of her highly anticipated move to Florida to play college basketball.
Before arriving in Gainesville to begin her preparations with the Gators, Dakic was one of two Australians selected to compete in the Steph Curry Asia Camp, alongside some of the Asia Pacific's most talented players.
Spending four days working closely with Steph, brother Seth Curry, and UConn NCAA Women's champion Azzi Fudd gave Dakic a first-hand look at elite preparation for the next level.
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"I think one thing that stood out the most and that I learned from Steph was how he goes about his workouts, the intensity of his warmups to prepare his body for training, and then just the intensity and how hard he works when he goes to train," Dakic told Sporting News Australia.
"I think the biggest thing would be the details within each drill and each thing you do. I think the fine details really matter because it's what sets you apart from everyone else."
Across the four days, Dakic emerged as one of the standout performers in the camp, regularly earning praise from Stephen Curry for her tenacity on the boards and playmaking ability.
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Ahead of her first season in college basketball, Dakic credited the Centre of Excellence for helping lay the foundations of her game.
"I think being at the CoE has definitely helped me learn what it takes to be an athlete," Dakic said.
"As much as doing the work on the court is important, it's the stuff that you do away from the court that's going to help you in the long run.
"We're very fortunate for the facilities we had there, like nutritionists, psychologists, the recovery center, physios, all these different things that contribute to the game that people don't really think about.
"I think just realising that those are just as important as the on-court work, and you can't have one without the other."
Dakic primed for freshman season with Florida Gators
Following the Curry Camp, Dakic now heads to Florida to begin the next step of her career, her freshman season with the Florida Gators.
As the first signee in coach Kelly Rae Finley’s 2025 recruiting class, Dakic joins an incoming class including fellow Aussie Sarah Deng, Knisha Godfrey, Caterina Piatti, and Nyadieng Yiech.
"I'm super, super pumped to go play for Florida," Dakic said.
"I think we've got a great coach in Kelly Finley, and we've got a really great group of girls. So I'm excited to get over there.
"I decided to go to Florida [because] I think it was just a really connected group. You meet someone, you feel like you've known them for a long time because they just know what you're about, they see what they want for you.
"The coaching staff really understood where they wanted to be in the program and I just thought it would be the best fit for it. Also, the weather's great."
As a freshman, she'll be competing for minutes with a stacked backcourt, headlined by the returning duo of Liv McGill and Laila Reynolds.
"My basketball goals would definitely be setting a good foundation with Florida Gators, settling in well there, and just embracing all that college has to offer," Dakic added.
Outside of college, Dakic has her sights set on adding to her representative career for Australia, following winning silver at the FIBA U19 World Cup this year and winning gold with the Australian U18 team at the FIBA Asia Cup in 2024.
"[I want to] keep working on my game and keep pushing for years to come to potentially try and make an Opals squad."