Australia start U19 Worlds preparations with first training camp

CANBERRA (FIBA U19 World Championship) - Australia started their first wave of preparations for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship with a training camp at Basketball Australia's National Centre of Excellence in Canberra.

Head coach Adam Caporn has called 16 players to the camp, which runs from 23-27 April and includes two scrimmages against the Chinese U19 national team, slated for 25 and 27 April. 

Caporn's 16-player squad includes seven players who reached the Final of the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship in Kyle Clark, Harry Froling, Deng Gak, Jayden Hodgson, Dejan Vasiljevic, Jack White and Tom Wilson.

The squad also consists of eight of the players that helped Australia qualify for the U19 Worlds by winning the 2014 FIBA Oceania U18 Championship in Clark, Froling, Jordan Hunter, Tanner Krebs, Rhys Vague, Vasiljevic, White and Wilson. 

Vasiljevic was named to the All-Tournament Team at the U17 Worlds in Dubai and was joined by Wilson at the Basketball without Borders (BWB) Global Camp that took place as part of the NBA All-Star Game earlier this year.

Despite the talent on hand, there are a number of notable omissions on the current list. Among them are Ben Simmons, Thon Maker, Isaac Humphries, Jonah Bolden, George Blagojevic, Abiola Akintola and Deng Adel. 

Some of those players may still join Caporn's team before the Emus make their way to Europe for warm-up games and the tournament taking place from 27 June-5 July in Heraklion (Crete), Greece where Australia have been drawn into Group C with Canada, Italy and Tunisia.

One player who could showcase himself in Canberra is William McDowell-White, a talented guard who did not play in either team last year. Others, such as Vague, Perry, Hunter and Matthew McCarthy, meanwhile, have an opportunity to prove themselves down on the blocks to possibly make the final team as well, especially if Humphries does not commit to playing. 

Caporn's next training camp is scheduled to start on 25 May, by which time the squad is expected to be trimmed. A final camp will likely take place in early June before the team travels to Spain on 10 June for games in Spain and Croatia.

Australia's preliminary squad for the 2015 FIBA U19 World Championship: Kyle Clark, Harry Froling, Deng Gak, Angus Glover, Jordan Hunter, Jayden Hodgson, Matthew Kenyon, Tanner Krebs, Matthew McCarthy, William McDowell-White, Jack McVeigh, Jock Perry, Rhys Vague, Dejan Vasiljevic, Jack White and Tom Wilson.

FIBA