New Zealand U17 Men’s National Team head coach, Leyton Haddleton has today named his squad of 12 for the upcoming FIBA U17 World Cup in Istanbul, Türkiye.
The squad includes: Jackson Ball, Ihaka Cate, Lachlan Crate, Gus Dallow, Oscar Goodman, Hayden Jones, Jackson Kiss, Mana Martin, James Matthews, Troy Plumtree, Jameer Reed and Hunter Te Ratana.
The team is again led by head coach Leyton Haddleton and assistant coach Darron Larsen, with Greg Brockbank coming in for Jason Crummer as second assistant coach.
11 Athletes Return from U16 Asian Champs
The roster is headlined by the promising trio of Goodman, Jones and Crate; among 11 players returning from the FIBA U16 Asian Championship squad that finished second overall in Qatar last year.
Goodman returns after being named MVP of last year’s U16 Asian Champs; the 6’7” forward averaging 14ppg and a team-leading 8.3rpg over five games, while dominating the competition with his strength and athleticism.
Jones, who averaged 12.2ppg, 6.3rpg and a team-leading 4.3 assists per game, is back after suiting up for the Tall Blacks against Hong Kong at the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in February – scoring 7 points in his senior national team debut.
And Crate, who led New Zealand in scoring (15.2ppg) and steals (2 per game) at the Asian Champs, is another welcome return to a talented young squad.
The sole new addition to the team is Jackson Kiss; a talented 6’7” athlete out of Auckland Grammar who will make his debut national team appearance.
Impressively, 11 out of 12 athletes are embedded with teams in the Sal’s NBL competition; Goodman the sole exception due to being based at the NBA Global Academy in Canberra, although he played for Taranaki Airs the season prior.
“It’s a Kiwi trait that we fully embody with this squad”
U17 Men’s head coach, Leyton Haddleton says that his squad will employ the typical ‘Kiwi brand’ of toughness, flexibility and basketball IQ to be successful at World Cup level.
“With the makeup of this team our athletes are interchangeable across the group; that’s one of our strengths is that we’re skilled and athletic across the squad – and that can make us tough to guard,” says Haddleton.
“We need to play that way as we don’t have any seven footers on our team, so we use our athleticism, skills and basketball IQ to our advantage – it’s a Kiwi trait that we fully embody with this squad. The strength of our team is our team; I feel like any person that starts or comes off the bench can contribute.
“We also have complete buy-in and everybody does what they need to do for the team; no-one goes out there thinking ‘I’m the guy who needs to get 30 points’, we’re not built like that – we do things by committee and focus on getting the win.”
FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup
The FIBA U17 Men’s World Cup is the culmination of a three-year cycle for Basketball New Zealand’s U17 programme, which began in 2022 when the NZ U15 Men’s National Team finished second at the FIBA U15 Men’s Oceania Championship in Guam.
That placing earned the NZ U16 National Team a spot in last year’s FIBA U16 Asian Champs in Qatar, with the team finishing second at this event behind Australia; good enough to qualify as one of 16 teams at the cycle’s pinnacle event, the FIBA U17 World Cup in Türkiye.
The NZ U17 Men’s National Team will travel to Istanbul, Türkiye in mid-June for a pre-World Cup friendly tournament, prior to the start of the FIBA U17 World Cup on 29 June. New Zealand will face hosts Türkiye on day one, followed by games against Argentina and Italy on days two and four – they then move onto a Round of 16 that features crossover play against the other pools; the winner progressing to the quarter-final round.
Coach Haddleton says his squad is targeting a top eight finish at this pinnacle competition.
“When you look at what’s happened in the past with our age group campaigns in a World Cup setting, it’s been difficult to secure a top 10 finish. So the goal is to set ourselves up through pool play to win the crossover [in the Round of 16] – that means we’re top eight. And when you get to the top eight, anything can happen.
“We play host Türkiye in our first game, which is a great way to start our campaign; it’ll be a prime-time game on the first day so we’ll expect a good crowd. Our challenge is to get our campaign off on the right foot, to perform when the energy of that Türkiye home crowd is against us – if we can get through the first game, then we’re on the right track.”
Follow the New Zealand U17 Men’s National Team at nz.basketball/national-teams/juniors/u17-men
NZ U17 Men’s National Team – FIBA U17 World Cup 2024
Jackson Ball
Basketball Hawkes Bay / Hawke’s Bay Hawks
Ihaka Cate
Canterbury Basketball Association / Canterbury Rams
Lachlan Crate
Basketball Manawatu / Manawatu Jets
Gus Dallow
Harbour Basketball Association / Auckland Tuatara
Oscar Goodman
Basketball Taranaki / NBA Global Academy
Hayden Jones
Nelson Basketball Association / Nelson Giants
Jackson Kiss
Basketball Auckland / Auckland Tuatara
Mana Martin
Canterbury Basketball Association / Canterbury Rams
James Matthews
Nelson Basketball Association / Nelson Giants
Troy Plumtree
Wellington Basketball Association / Wellington Saints
Jameer Reed
Harbour Basketball Association / Auckland Tuatara
Hunter Te Ratana
Waitakere West Auckland Basketball / Auckland Tuatara
FIBA U17 World Cup 2024 – New Zealand Schedule (TBC)
Sat 29 June – Turkey vs NZL (time TBC)
Sun 30 June – NZL vs Argentina (time TBC)
Tue 2 July – NZL vs Italy (time TBC)
Wed 3 July – Round of 16 (time TBC)
Fri 5 July – Quarter-finals / Classification Rounds
Sat 6 July – Semi-finals / Classification Rounds
Sun 7 July – Finals / Classification Rounds
