A 15-man squad has been selected to take part in the Airbnb Australian Emus camp as preparations for the June Under-19 FIBA World Championships continue to build.
Running from May 25-28 at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence in Canberra, selectors will use the camp to choose a final squad of 12. That team will represent Australia in Crete at the World Championships where they will face Italy, Canada and Tunisia in the group stage.
Coach Adam Caporn believes a promising group has been selected.
“I’m really excited about our squad,” he said. “It’s young, talented and I think it will represent Australia in a positive way.”
Ten players from the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence SEABL team are among the selections: Thomas Wilson, Dejan Vasiljevic, Tanner Krebs, Jack White, Jack McVeigh, Jock Perry, Jordan Hunter, George Blagojevic, Harry Froling and Deng Gak.
Through three games in the SEABL competition, Vasiljevic is leading the side with 14.7 points per game while Wilson, Perry and Froling are all averaging double figures and shooting better than 50 per cent. Hunter (nine points, seven rebounds per game) has owned the boards and McVeigh is stuffing the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Also playing in the SEABL, Kyle Clark is in his second season with N-W Tasmania Thunder where he is proving his worth as a shooter, having hit 11-22 from the three-point line.
Rhys Vague is a development player from the Perth Wildcats in the NBL, Geremy McKay is a 200cm power forward from the University of Albany and William McDowell-White recently averaged 14 points, seven boards and five assists for Queensland North in the Under-18 Junior Championships.
Rounding out the list is Angus Glover.
“Angus is a double-bottom ager which means he will be available for next year’s squad as well,” Caporn explained. “He had a great Under-18 nationals, his team won the championship and he performed very well.”
Historically, Australia has been very successful at the Under-19 World Championships, earning gold in 2003, a silver medal in 1995 and bronze medals in 2009 and 2013.
Looking ahead to June, Caporn is enthusiastic.
“We will face a variety of different basketball styles and systems as well as the best players in the world which will be great,” he said. “It will be an incredible challenge but one we are really excited for. We will need to be united and at our best.”
In the spirit of reconciliation Basketball Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.