Six Debutants Set to Shine in Boomers Qualifiers

An exciting glimpse of the future of Australian basketball will be on display next week when the Boomers hit the court in Bendigo.

Six debutants have been named in the 12-player Australian Boomers team which will play Korea in a 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifying game at Red Energy Arena on Thursday February 22.

NBL talent Rocco Zikarsky, Josh Bannan, Nick Marshall and Jordan Hunter and Centre of Excellence athletes 18-year-olds Kye Savage and Josh Dent will all don the green and gold in senior competition for the first time.

The line-up also features the leadership of Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Nick Kay who will captain Australia and experienced guard Mitch McCarron while Isaac Humphries, Dejan Vasiljevic, Taran Armstrong and Ben Henshall have also represented Australia at FIBA level.

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Basketball Australia Executive General Manager of High Performance Jason Smith said more FIBA windows presented the opportunity to blood young talent.

“We are looking to include Centre of Excellence athletes in the majority of our FIBA windows to give experience and exposure to candidates we believe will be future Australian Boomers.”

Australian Boomers Head Coach Brian Goorjian said basketball fans were in for a treat watching the next generation of players.

“I’m looking forward to our game in Bendigo, I hear it’s a full house so that’s going to provide a great atmosphere.

“There is a lot of interest in the young talent coming through and this will be a great opportunity for them to play alongside some of our most experienced players.

“It’s always an honour to coach the Boomers but there is always something special about playing at home and I know the Bendigo fans are in for a special night of basketball.”

Guard Dejan Vasiljevic is excited to represent his country in his home state of Victoria.

“It’s always an honour to wear the green and gold and follow in the footsteps of the greats who have come before us and to represent the Boomers past and present means a lot.

“I’m a Melbourne boy originally so it will be really special to have my family and close friends in the crowd. We’ve got a lot of first timers in this team so it gives them the opportunity to represent the Boomers for the first time and on home soil too.”