South Australia has been blessed with some of the most talented female basketballers in Australia recently - we just haven't been fortunate enough to see them play.

Well now it's time.

The 2008 Central ABL will feature four returning graduates from the Australian Institute of Sport, in Cayla Francis (Eastern), Mia Newley (Forestville), Nikki Martin (West)and Emma Langford (Sturt).

Francis and Langford are back in Adelaide fresh from an outstanding performance at the Under 20 National Championships in Albury, in which South Australia won the Grand Final against Victoria by 38 points. Francis was awarded the RE Staunton medal for the MVP of the tournament, averaging 23 points and 12 rebounds a game to lead both categories.

Martin and Newley, along with Francis, were members of the Australian Under 19 team that participated in the World Championships in the Slovak Republic last year. Both played in the Central ABL in 2005, but would be keen to demonstrate how much they have progressed in the last two years.

The men's competition will see a couple of new and old faces this year. Joining North Adelaide's premiership team is Jason Reardon from Geelong. Reardon was a member of the Supercats' SEABL team that won three consecutive conference titles, and also won the conference Golden Hands award.

36er veterans Paul Bauer (Sturt), Rupert Sapwell (Norwood) and Paul Rees (Woodville) are all registered to play. Whether they actually suit up remains to be seen.

A number of former players join the coaching ranks this season. Scott Whitmore makes his head coaching debut with Centrals' men's team, as does Wade Hampton at Eastern. Travis Leaver, known as a lock-down defender for the Noarlunga City Tigers in the 1990s, will coach Southern's women, and former 36er David Spear returns for a second stint with West's men.

Central Districts makes a welcome return to the women's competition, where new coach Winston Folland will have assistance from Opal Erin Phillips, initially on the bench, but hopefully as a player after recovering from knee surgery.

With a record heat wave resulting in the postponement of round 1, players and coaches are desperate to play. Expect fiery clashes from traditional rivals South and Southern at Marion, and Norwood and North at Mars, in what promises to be a cracking start to the Central ABL season.