Cheery return for Bruce

Bruce, 23, has been visiting family and friends while also showing around his US girlfriend, Whitney Leasley, 21.

Bruce is still amazed about the crowd which attended his one-off appearance for the Horsham Hornets on Saturday night.

"I can't believe they had to turn people away. I am really sorry those people couldn't see the game," Bruce said.

The couple chose Horsham over a number of more glamorous destinations.

"My parents wanted us to come on a luxury cruise with them last summer," Leasley said. "But we couldn't go because we both had summer school so they said they would pay for us to go anywhere we wanted this year.

"They suggested the Bahamas or Mexico and then they said Australia. As soon as they said Australia I said yes."

Leasley said she had known Bruce since his first year at Baylor University.

"My friend's boyfriend played for Baylor and I met Aaron through her," Leasley said. "I didn't think much of our first meeting because he was pretty shy.

"But we soon began dating."

The pair dated for a while but Leasley was on a cheerleading scholarship at Kilgore College so they took a break.

"I was dancing for the Kilgore Rangerettes who are very popular at home," Leasley said. "It was a lot of work. We travelled to every continent and performed at places like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York.

"People at home call the Rangerettes the sweethearts of the USA."

But in 2006 Leasley moved to Baylor to continue her study and cheerleading.

So the couple were soon back together.

"All of my family went to Baylor so I was always going to go there," she said.

Leasley has enjoyed Horsham which is smaller than her home of Fort Worth, Texas, which has a population of about 700,000 people.

"Horsham is bigger than Aaron said it was. But I really love how much simpler it is. Everyone goes to the same places and everyone knows everyone," she said.

Despite being on holiday, Bruce has been maintaining regular gym sessions at Horsham College to keep his fitness up.

He has busy times ahead, including pre-draft training sessions with US National Basketball Association teams.

Bruce is expecting to hear whether he has been invited to the prestigious NBA pre-draft camp next week but will still get to work-out for individual teams whether he is invited or not.

"Whether I get drafted to the NBA or not I will still be working hard to make the league. But it is going to be hard. There are a lot of players like me but it will only take one general manager or coach to like me and I will be in," he said.

Bruce and Leasley are enjoying their break from a stressful year of university.

"It has been a stressful time because we only finished our final exams about five days ago. But we are both really relaxed now," Leasley said.

The couple are heading to Melbourne at the weekend to take in some AFL, enjoy some shopping and to see Bruce's family.

Bruce is still deciding what game to take Leasley to.

"Collingwood and Geelong will be a big game," Bruce said. "But two of my uncles played for Richmond so they want to go watch the Tigers."

Leasley is looking forward to seeing an AFL game.

"I have always been into sports," she said. "So it will be the first time I have watched a game without knowing what is going on."

Bruce said he had not seen his family in Melbourne since before he went to Baylor.

"Family are the people you miss when you are away," he said. "You go away and then come back and family are still the same. It is a great feeling. It is what I missed the most."

Overall Bruce is grateful to have choices in his life and in his career.

"I was saying to Whitney the other day that we are very lucky to have such great opportunities in our life," Bruce said. "We could be scratching and saving but instead we have a lot of choices.

"We are very lucky."