Sixteen-Year-Old International Hoops Star Scores On and Off the Court.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Giving back is something Marisa Gobuty knows a lot about.

A 4.2 GPA student and basketball standout at Bradenton's IMG Academy, Marisa Gobuty, a 16-year-old transfer student from Israel, is consistently finding time to talk to students at schools across the United

States about her life in Israel, as well as the fun she's having playing with and against some of the top female high school athletes in the world. Between her schedule with IMG, and her summer National team match ups, the Toronto-born, Los Angeles-raised teen is more than holding her own against them.

As a transplanted North American who moved with her family to the coastal town of Herzilya Israel back in 1999, the last five years have been as much about basketball as it has been about embracing Israel's culture for the teenager.

Just last week she visited the Hillel School of Tampa and spoke to a group of second and third graders where she explained the similarities and differences in living along the Mediterranean's eastern end. Last month, in San Diego, Gobuty took time away from the team and instead of visiting the shopping mall or running along the beaches took two hours out of her day and went to San Diego Jewish Academy to talk to the high school students, some of whom will be hoping to meet up with her when their senior class visits Israel later in the year.

"There is so much I love about living in Israel and being able to grow up there," said the 5'6" point guard. "That's why I really enjoy talking to school-age students where I can tell them so much more than what the read in the newspapers or view on television."

For Gobuty, the opportunity to play at IMG came about after attending one of their summer basketball camps. "We asked if she would be interested in attending school in Bradenton, and playing on the team," said coach, Joe Abunassar. "We're so fortunate to have her on the team. She's so driven. She wants to win and end up playing for an NCAA Division One school."

With a 4.2 GPA and scores in the 95th percentile, and her penchant for being Israel's unofficial teenage goodwill ambassador, getting to the right college should be a lay up.