Australia confirm final roster and appoint new head coach
MELBOURNE (FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup) - Medal contenders Australia have announced the 12 players tasked with taking a podium step at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup.
MELBOURNE (FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup) - Medal contenders Australia have announced the 12 players tasked with taking a podium step at the FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup.
They have also confirmed that Deanne Butler will pick up the reins as play-caller after Paul Goriss was appointed as assistant coach of the senior Australia team for the FIBA Women's Asia Cup 2017.
| Australia roster for FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup 2017 | |||
| Zitina Aokuso | Chloe Bibby | Monique Conti | Abby Cubillo |
| Eziyoda Magbegor | Anneli Maley | Lara McSpadden | Rebecca Pizzey |
| Maddison Rocci | Kiera Rowe | Jazmin Shelley | Samantha Simons |
"Selection was not easy with the quality of the squad but we are really excited about the depth and versatility of the team," said Butler.
"The team has a wealth of experience underpinned by their development at the CoE through their state based High Performance programs while some have previous World Championship involvement."
That is exemplified by eight players (Conti, Cubillo, Shelley, Simons, Rowe, Pizzey, Magbegor and McSpadden) who claimed Australia’s first ever gold medal at the FIBA U17 Women's World Championships last year, a tournament they went through undefeated.
As @russiabasket missing key stars, it's down to this young and stellar talented @BasketballAus roster to challenge @usabasketball #FIBAU19 pic.twitter.com/pgIDQFUVcp
— Paul Nilsen (@basketmedia365) June 7, 2017
"We are really looking forward to the exciting challenges in our pre-World cup tournament in France and then our ultimate objective to medal at the World Cup in Italy.
"We know that we will face strong opposition with a number of the European teams and Japan and Korea as always will be highly skilled and extremely quick," concluded Butler.
The Gems have been drawn into Group D for the tournament and will be aiming to get on the podium for the third straight time after winning bronze medals in 2015 and 2013. They were also silver medalists in 1997 and gold medalists in 1993.
FIBA