As a skilled forward who really opened eyes with her play a couple weeks back at the Rose Classic Super Jam the prospects and upside of 6’2” forward Flera Vinerte (New York Military Academy ‘20) are clearly very high.

A star on the Latvian U17 National Team that participated in the Women’s World Cup last summer, Vinerte has already proven herself on an International stage and now she is beginning to make sure that Division 1 college coaches see what she can do as well.

Having just come over from Latvia in August everything with the style of American basketball is new for Vinerte, though her head coach at NYMA in Scott Alvarez says that what you have such a dynamic European type skill set like she has that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“Right now, Flera is a post player where she can pass the ball extremely well out of the paint and she can shoot the ball well from the outside too,” Alvarez explained. “It’s very much a European style game.”

That isn’t to say Alvarez isn’t working on developing more traditional offensive post moves, especially with her back to the basket, but at Vinerte’s size she is such a unique player that he doesn’t want to take away too much from what makes her so special.

Since Vinerte has just recently made her way over to the U.S. and she doesn’t have that experience playing in front of all the college coaches on the AAU circuit her recruitment hasn’t quite taken off yet, though Alvarez hopes and believes that will soon change.

He believes that because she had a major performance against a top Canadian team in Crestwood at the Rose Classic where Vinerte had 15 points and 9 rebounds and combine that with what should be a breakout upcoming spring playing with City Rocks International on the AAU side and Alvarez believes the sky is the limit for his Latvian star.

“Flera has all the tools and once she gets more of that exposure, I think college coaches will really fall in love with what she can offer,” Alvarez explained.