Sam Waardenburg had an outstanding year both in New Zealand and abroad. He was chosen to attend several basketball camps overseas including the NBA and FIBA Basketball Without Border Asia Camp in Melbourne where he was named Most Valuable Player. This led to a selection for the NBA and FIBA Basketball without Borders Global Camp in New Orleans, as well as the Adidas Nations Tournament in Los Angeles. Waardenburg was an integral member of the Under 18 3×3 World Cup team which finished fourth in Kazakhstan. Most notably he was a member of the Junior Tall Blacks team that beat Australia at the FIBA Oceania Under 18 World Qualifying tournament in Fiji and was named in the All Star Five for the tournament. He played for the Rangitoto College team that won the Secondary Schools National Championships and was also named as MVP for that tournament. Waardenburg is currently studying and playing NCAA Division 1 basketball on scholarship for the University of Miami.
