Giddey, Wigness, recent Boomers debutants highlight Australia U19 World Cup preliminary squad

MELBOURNE (Australia) - Top prospect Josh Giddey, veteran Tamuri Wigness and a septet of recent senior national team debutants highlight the preliminary 18-man squad Australia have announced for the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup 2021.

Head coach Darren Perry hopes this group will help Australia win their first U19 world title since Andrew Bogut guided the Emus to the crown in 2003. That was the country's last podium finish in the competition, having taken second place in 1995 and finishing fourth in 2009 and 2013. Perry will call together the players for a selection camp from May 31 to June 2 at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra. The final team will be selected from the camp and then depart of Europe in late June for the global showcase from July 3-11 in in the Latvian cities of Riga and Daugavpils.

Giddey, a guard who was named an All-Star at the 2020 Basketball Without Borders Global Camp, is considered a possible lottery pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and has been a star for Adelaide in the Australian NBL league this season, averaging 10.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.5 assists including three triple-doubles in a four-game stretch between late April and early May. Giddey, whose father Warrick Giddey won two Australian league titles in the 1990s, has also been named to the Boomers 24-man preliminary squad for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. And the young talent made his senior team debut at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers in February 2020.

Wigness is the only player among the 18 nominees for Latvia who has experience of playing at the U19 World Cup. The playmaker averaged 7.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.6 steals at the tournament in 2019, where Australia lost to Canada in group play and Lithuania in the Round of 16 before finishing in ninth place.

Wigness will be playing on the global stage at the youth level for the third time after also collecting 10.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 3.0 steals at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2018, when Australia took sixth place.

One of Wigness' teammates in that 2018 tournament was Blake Jones, who was also nominated for this summer's showcase in Latvia. The forward picked up 5 points and 1 rebound in 7 minutes over five games at the U17 World Cup.

While Wigness and Jones both have played at World Cups, seven of the team's nominated players faced off against New Zealand at the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers in the February 2021 FIBA window.

 
Taran Armstrong, Dyson Daniels, David Okwera, Tyrese Proctor, Patrick Ryan, Reyne Smith and Harry Wessels all made their Boomers debut in the 81-52 victory in Cairns, Australia. Daniels led the team in scoring with 23 points to go with 4 assists and 6 steals while Smith drained 6 three-pointers in scoring 22 points and Okwera picked up 12 points and 4 rebounds.

A majority of this group of players has been together for many years as Giddey, Wigness, Jones, Armstrong, Smith, Leyi Adebayo and Biwali Bayles teamed up to win the title at the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship 2019. That result qualified Australia for the FIBA U18 Asia Championship 2020.

The FIBA U18 Asia Championship did not place in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia were awarded a spot in the U19 World Cup thanks to their place as the top-ranked team from Asia in the FIBA World Rankings, presented by Nike for Youth Men.

Australia will be playing at the U19 World Cup for the 14th time in 15 editions, missing out only in 2017. The Emus have been drawn into Group D with 2019 champions United States, Turkey and 2019 runners-up Mali.

FIBA