MARTINSVILLE -- Ater Majok taps his size-17 foot to the beat as Michael Jackson plays softly on the radio.

Keep on with the force don't stop,

Don't stop till you get enough.

C.W. Elliott steers the white van around sharp turns on a country road. He is driving three very large men to a basketball game, and they are running a little behind. The uniforms weren't quite dry yet, but he had pulled them from the laundromat anyway. There's no time. Got to keep moving.

Don't stop till you get enough.

Two players from Roanoke. Four from Australia. Two from Charlotte, N.C. One from Nigeria. One from just outside Atlanta. One from Franklin County. It's an odd mix they've got on this team, but it's working to a degree few could have envisioned a year ago when the program began.

There's a buzz now, wherever the team goes.

The biggest reason -- both literally and figuratively -- is Majok, a 6-foot-10-inch Sudanese who arrived in town a little more than a month ago and has been treated like a rock star ever since.

Several Web sites project him as a future NBA star. Nobody disputes he is a blue-chip college prospect for next season.

But he needs somebody to drive him to the game, and tonight that's a job for Elliott, the team trainer who works at the Martinsville YMCA during the day. So there they are together: The local concierge and the international sure thing.

Combined they symbolize the Heat Basketball Academy, a developmental club program launched in Martinsville last year that still has plenty of room to grow. But thanks to a partnership with an Australian hoops academy, the Heat has legitimate hopes of becoming something big.

"We want to turn this academy into a power," says former Laurel Park standout Jason Niblett, the academy's founder and head coach.

The first sign that they're on their way appears as Elliott takes a right turn into the school parking lot.

Outside, Baylor University head basketball coach Scott Drew is waiting on the curb. Inside, a crowd is beginning to gather. Among the dignitaries: recruiters from UCLA, Connecticut, Louisiana State and Louisville. Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg is here to take a look. Later, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will settle into his seat.

This isn't Madison Square Garden.

It's Bassett High School.

n n n

Earlier in the day, Ater Majok, Manyok Galtwak and Majok Majok -- three players born in Sudan who moved to Australia as children -- were eating lunch at Arts Etc. and Cafe in downtown Martinsville.

They do this often. The cafe was the first place they went when they flew into town in early November. It's within walking distance of the two-bedroom downtown apartment they share with their guardian, and it's become one of the many things they like about Martinsville.

"There's no way to get distracted here," said Ater Majok, 20. "All we do is play the game and get better every day."

"The people around here are great," said Galtwak, a 17-year-old guard. "They're always smiling."

Majok Majok: "Very friendly."

Ater Majok: "Yeah, the whole town."

Galtwak: "In Australia, you see someone walking down the street and you've never seen them, you're not going to spend your time to go to him and say hello, whereas people here find time to do that. It's really good. I could have a family and live down here."

Ater Majok: "I like this, man. I think I'll move down here and retire."

All three players nod and take another bite of their sandwiches. They're not exaggerating. They genuinely have fallen in love with Henry County.

And that's good news for the Heat Basketball Academy -- and by extension, fans of high-level basketball.

When Niblett started this program in 2006, his goal was to provide basketball opportunities to players who needed to work on their academics or get further exposure before they could move on to college.

The program, which would not be affiliated with any school and therefore wouldn't count against a player's NCAA eligibility, would feature games against prep schools and junior colleges.

Naturally, the early targets were local players. Former All-Timesland athletes Corey Snell (Hidden Valley), James Otey (William Fleming) and Mark Grogan (Patrick Henry) were among the members of that inaugural roster.

Snell is now playing at Division II Virginia State, and Grogan moved on as well. Otey stuck around for a second season and is entertaining offers from several small colleges.

"This year, we're starting to get crowds," Otey said. "That's what we need. This is my first time seeing something like this. We've never seen college coaches coming our way."

The reason is Ater Majok, who in his brief time in the states has become a nightly draw. But his presence has a broad effect.

"There's a lot of schools I've been talking to," said Rashad Coleman, a 21-year-old wing who joined the Heat this year out of Georgia. "N.C. State, Nevada, Eastern Carolina, Cincinnati ... and it's just because of Ater. When they come to see him, they see me, too."

It's the kind of exposure Niblett thought he would eventually be able to provide his players, but it's come several years earlier than expected. And for it to continue, the city of Martinsville has to keep making a good impression.

n n n

Niblett, 36, met many basketball people during his playing career. From Hagerstown Junior College in Maryland to East Tennessee State University to seven years as a pro in France and Switzerland, Niblett developed his share of contacts.

Perhaps none was more vital to this program than Edward Smith.

Smith, a native of Washington, runs Next Level Basketball Australia. It's a developmental academy for ages 7 to 20 that targets basketball talent that slips under the radar of the Australian Institute of Sport, which trains many of the nation's elite athletes.

Basketball in Australia is similar to golf in the United States. In most cases, you have to pay to play. But for a country that serves as one of the homes for refugees of war-torn Sudan, the cost can be prohibitive.

"A lot of these kids weren't playing," Smith said. "So I developed a program looking for grants. I'll reach into government bodies and the community to help these kids have something to do and to use sports as a vehicle to educate, with the hopes of getting scholarships in the United States."

He and Niblett began speaking a year ago about how they might work together to make that happen. Smith agreed to bring four players to Martinsville -- including Ater Majok -- this season for a trial run.

"I like it here," Niblett said. "It's beautiful. Small town. Safe town. The community's really behind it. It's not too far away from other places. It's in the heart of ACC country.

"But we also have coaches from the Big 12, from the Pac-10, from the Big East. Everybody's here."

Whether Smith and his players will be here in years to come remains to be seen.

"I think we're close, but I have to go back home and marry all the pieces to the puzzle together," Smith said. "It's going to take a budget to run this thing. So when we're in the community [back home] generating funds, is it a product that someone would pay for in Australia, or throughout the world? It has to be something where someone would say, 'I want to send my kid to the Heat Academy because there's some type of advantage.' And I think there's an advantage here."

If Smith can convince parents and sponsors of that, Niblett might just have himself a natural pipeline.

And Martinsville might continue to be an unlikely basketball hotbed.

n n n

As coaches lined the railing in the Bassett High School gym, Ater Majok showed them all the things they needed to see.

A soft jump shot with range that extends beyond the 3-point line. Post moves with his back to the basket or facing it. The ability -- and desire -- to handle the ball in the open court. A penchant for shot-blocking.

He finished with 18 points as the Heat defeated Carolina Prep 98-82.

"Wherever he goes to college, they're going to be glad to have him," said Terrance Conway, a 6-7 forward for Carolina Prep. "He works hard. He's going to play you from basket to basket. He's just a phenomenal athlete."

On Monday, the Heat players were released for a holiday break. They'll return in early January to begin the second half of their 28-game schedule, which concludes March 7.

By then, perhaps Ater Majok will have made his college choice. He has yet to hint publicly where he's leaning. Ater has been on official visits to Baylor and Maryland. UConn coach Jim Calhoun has flown in twice to watch him play. A host of others have offered him scholarships.

"It's exciting, but I'm just a basketball player," he said. "I let the [Heat] coaches handle all that. I know they will guide me in the right direction."

When he commits, the recruiting interest will obviously wane. But should this Australian partnership continue, the Heat could remain a hot ticket.

At age 17, the other Majok -- Majok Majok -- is 6-foot-8 and still growing. He's already graduated from high school. He plans to finish his NCAA requirements in time to play in college beginning in 2009.

"In another year," Niblett said, "he's going to be a monster."

And he'll need a place to play.