It's a storyline straight from the Adam Sandler movie Hustle.
In the film, Sandler is a basketball scout and uses social media to help his protégé, Bo Cruz, portrayed by real life NBA player Juancho Hernangómez, land an NBA contract.
Josie Taoi employed the same tactics, to get her brother Tuburu Naivalurua (known as Buru) noticed.
And it worked. He gained a scholarship with Garden City Community College in Kansas, where he now plays.
And once she saw how social media helped her brother achieve his dreams, she vowed to use it to do the same for others.
Creating a new generation of 'GOATs'
Josie is a Fijian-Australian who grew up in western Sydney, playing street ball.
She was a representative player, and says basketball was her "saving grace" as she grew up "pretty poor", raised by a single mother.
"I understand from experience how it can be a positive tool to keep you in a good environment, in terms of the people you're surrounded by," she said.
"You're always working out, your mental health is better, you're emotionally better.
"It's very important, especially for the kids that come from less-fortunate circumstances."
Josie is the founder and head coach of Promote the GOAT (PTG), where she uses social media to showcase the talents of local ballers.
"I've seen a lot of the kids that I've put on my platform enter new programs with amazing coaches, get opportunities to go overseas, get invited to special tournaments," she said.
"I understand how to use PTG and social media in a positive way that can impact others and give them opportunities.
"I feel like this is my purpose, to encourage other people and be a light in the community for positive life skills and just bring positive energy because that's what we need for these young people."
Through PTG, Josie also runs social scrimmages, training sessions, and enters teams into competitions, and most of the participants range from eight years old to their early 20s.
She also collects sneakers from the community to distribute to anyone that needs them – she's even been known to pull over on the side of the road and hand them out to kids she spots playing in the park.
"Although we're inclusive to everyone, we like to help the kids that maybe can't afford a basketball program with professional coaches," she said.
"Kids from the parks that are super talented that might not get looked at.
"Some of these kids have never played comp in their life, they've only played at school.
"So playing with professional refs, and being in team uniform was something really special to them."
Bigger than basketball
It is all volunteer run and is free, and Josie relies on help from her friends, including coach Anton Baez-Ancevski.
"She's got so much energy, she's so positive and fun to be around," he said.
"But she's also really intelligent, just always aware of the message that she's trying to portray."
And that message is about more than basketball.
"She teaches discipline on and off the court," 18-year-old participant Younesse said.
"It's not that she's just trying to make good basketball players, she's trying to make good people at the same time."
But Josie had to work hard to win over some of the boys and young men who weren't used to a woman coaching.
"Thankfully I had [my fellow coaches]. They had my back," she said.
"We taught these kids positive life skills and valuable life lessons that were able to create this respect and attitude that was a really positive culture."
Harnessing spirituality
Josie's Christian faith is a central part of her life – and it's something she shares with her players.
"At PTG we like to promote basketball for mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, physical health," she said.
"Some people have asked, how does that connect to spiritual health?
"But through life, through hardships, through basketball, you're going to face challenges, and that's where your faith comes in.
"Through the blessings that I received in basketball, me and my team, we're trying to give that back to the next generation."
Future hoop dreams
Josie's work with PTG is only in its infancy.
She wants to get more girls and women involved, and run programs in schools that might not have funding to bring in external coaches.
"We want to help more kids, we want to reach more people, to do that we need support," she said.
"I'm working on trying to get funding to get our programs going and connecting with more people.
"So hopefully, there's going to be a lot more growth and a lot more people reach out and want to come on board.
"Any time we get NBL players or WNBL players reach out and say they want to talk to the kids is amazing, because it inspires them.
"And it encourages them and gives them hope, which is what we're trying to do."
This story is part of a special ABC Sport series Women in Sport Spotlight. Watch it on iview here.
