Junior Tall Blacks head coach, Matt Lacey has today named his squad of 12 for the upcoming FIBA U18 Asia Cup in Amman, Jordan this September.
The squad includes: Will Blight, Jonty Bond, Nic Book, Ezrah Eagle, Julius Halaifonua, Mahnaya Heke, Carter Hopoi, Ryan Hunt, Tama Isaac, Xanda Marsters, Kahu Treacher and Josh Wyllie.
In addition, five non-travelling Reserves have been named as: Adam Barton, Kayden Bracey, Chris Christof, Bart Jackowski and Chris Wyllie. In the event of one of the squad of 12 being unable to travel, a Reserve will be named in their place.
Joining Coach Lacey on the staff, will be assistant coaches Doug Courtney and Josiah Maama.
Squad Returns For Year Two
The squad returns 10 out of 12 athletes from the FIBA U17 Oceania Champs, held last October in Papua New Guinea. The Junior Tall Blacks claimed Silver in that tournament, with teammates Tama Isaac and Julius Halaifonua both making the All-Star Five team following dominant campaigns.
Two new athletes have joined the squad this year, in Nelson’s Jonty Bond and Xanda Marsters from Rotorua; with Xanda originally selected to the squad for last year’s U17 Oceania Champs, but forced to withdraw due to injury.
Coach Lacey says that he’s excited to see how this group has improved from year one, and how New Zealand will match up against the best age group teams in the Asia region.
“I’m very excited about our group and feel like they’ve made some really good progress since last year; especially in the areas we gave them feedback on at our January and March camps,” says Lacey.
“A lot of these athletes have had really good exposure in the Sal’s NBL domestically and we’ve got a few international players coming in as well, so we’re hoping that experience translates well for us into the Asia Cup in Jordan.
“I think that for year two of this cycle, it’s a big year and it’s an important year for us; the Asia zone is extremely competitive, and while we don’t yet know who’s in our pool and who our competition will be, we know its going to be a really tough and challenging tournament.”
FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024
The Junior Tall Blacks squad will travel to Jordan in early September, with the FIBA U18 Asia Cup running from 2-9 September in Amman. As one of eight teams to qualify for this tournament in Year Two of the U19 age group cycle, New Zealand will now wait for FIBA to release information on their pool opponents and the schedule of games for the first four days of the competition.
Coach Lacey says that his Junior Tall Blacks squad can look to both the Junior Tall Ferns at their recent FIBA U18 Asia Cup campaign, and the NZ U17 Men’s fourth-place finish at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey, as inspiration for their own upcoming tournament.
“The Junior Tall Ferns showed just how tough the Asia zone is; there’s some really powerhouse nations that you have to get through; and a top four placement isn’t easy to achieve – particularly when it depends where your quarterfinal and crossover games lands. So that helps to put things into perspective for us.
“And then seeing the success of the U17 boys in Turkey; Leyton [Haddleton] did a great job with creating a sense of belief and collective buy-in with that group; and to finish fourth in the world is a historic achievement for them and for Aotearoa.
“So for us it’s a bit of a blueprint and it shows that it can done. So we’re just looking to follow in these footsteps and continue to show the growth and improvement of New Zealand basketball on the international stage.”
More details around the FIBA U18 Men’s Asia Cup will be released by FIBA in the coming months. All games will be available to watch live on the FIBA YouTube channel – www.youtube.com/@FIBA
Junior Tall Blacks:
Will Blight, Nelson Basketball Association
Jonty Bond, Nelson Basketball Association
Nic Book, Canterbury Basketball
Ezrah Eagle, Basketball Hawkes Bay
Julius Halaifonua, NBA Global Academy / Harbour Basketball Association
Mahnaya Heke, Waikato Basketball
Carter Hopoi, Tauranga Basketball Association
Ryan Hunt, Waitakere West Auckland Basketball
Tama Isaac, Canterbury Basketball
Xanda Marsters, Rotorua Basketball Association
Kahu Treacher, Eastern Arizona College (US)
Josh Wyllie, Harbour Basketball Association
Junior Tall Blacks – Non-travelling Reserves:
Adam Barton, Nelson Basketball Association
Kayden Bracey, Nelson Basketball
Chris Christof, Otago Basketball
Bart Jackowski, Harbour Basketball Association
Chris Wyllie, Harbour Basketball Association
