Moving to university is a major step in their lives for most young people.

However, for Leicester basketball player Raphell Thomas-Edwards it has not simply been a case of moving to a new town or city in this country.

The 18-year-old, who has been nominated in the Young Sportsman category of the Mercury Sports Awards, has just taken up his studies across the Atlantic at the University of Buffalo, where his skills on the basketball court helped to earn him a full scholarship.

It is still a long way ahead for the former Gateway College student but the opportunity he has earned in New York State could provide the springboard to NBA stardom.

First of all, though, he has had to find his feet in new surroundings, thousands of miles away from his home city, where he came to prominence with Leicester Warriors having joined them as a talented, but raw, 11-year-old.

"I'm settling in really well," Raphell said. "The campus is nice and everybody here is very welcoming. The team especially understand that I'm so far away from home and are always willing to lend a helping hand."

Before he left for the States in September, Raphell was well aware that he would have to rise to a new level to make the grade on the university's basketball programme.

"Training is challenging," he said. "But doing what I enjoy makes it a lot easier. We train five days a week from 11am-2pm and we lift (weights) four days a week at 6am."

It isn't all about sport, though. Raphell will have to continue to meet academic standards at Buffalo.

He said: "The school work so far has been going quite well even though I had to catch up because of my late arrival. I'm on track now, which is due to the eight study hall hours a week we have to log and the help from our academic adviser. Although they don't know how to spell certain words my lecturers are great!"

Raphell said: "I'm enjoying the experience. It's better than I imagined. I'm doing exactly what I've always wanted to do and, if I continue to work hard, the next few years are going to be life-changing."

See the full list of sports awards nominees and send in your nominations here