Australia U19 World Cup preliminary roster includes mix of U18 Asia champs, U17 World Cup leaders
MELBOURNE (Australia) - Australia announced a 25-man preliminary roster for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 which has a mix of the teams at the U18 Asian Championship 2018 and U17 World Cup 2018.
MELBOURNE (Australia) - Australia head coach Darren Perry has announced a 25-man preliminary roster for the Emus at the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 which includes a mix of the title-winning team at the FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018 and the leaders from the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018.
Perry nominated 11 of the 12 players that helped Australia win the crown in their first appearance in the U18 Asian tournament. Perry, who was the coach of the event in Thailand, also added six players from the Australia side which finished sixth at the U17 World Cup last summer in Argentina.
| Australia preliminary roster for FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2019 | |||
| Tre Armstrong | Joshua Bannan | Sean Bairstow | Kyle Bowen |
| Hunter Clarke | Callum Dalton | Lachlan Dent | Alex Ducas |
| Hunter Goodrick | Sam Froling | Aiden Krause | Josh Kunen |
| Josh Green | Oliver Hayes-Brown | Keli Leaupepe | Isaiah Lee |
| Sean Macdonald | Jacob Richards | Tyler Robertson | Kody Stattmann |
| Wani Swaka Lo Buluk | Wil Tattersall | Luke Travers | Tamuri Wigness |
| Kobe Williamson | |||
Among the players who were not on either team is Josh Green, who is expected to be one of Australia's next stars long term and is playing for IMG Academy at high school in Florida.
"This squad’s biggest strength is that we have so many guys who can play in multiple positions," Emus coach Darren Perry. "Previous performances for Australia can certainly help in players’ confidence levels but we have 23 guys coming into the camp that will all vie for a selection spot. However, some of the guys will not be able to attend the camp due to commitments in the USA."
Australia will be holding a selection camp at the Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence from March 8-11.
"This camp will help identify the 12 athletes who will make the commitment on defence, buy into the system and have the belief that we can challenge for a gold medal at the World Cup," Perry said.
FIBA