BASKETBALL

 

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

 

THE basketball cycle never stops.

Only a month removed from his FIBA U17 World Cup campaign, Traralgon’s Will Hamilton already has his focus set on the U18 Asia Cup this month.

The Centre of Excellence athlete joined 20 of the top junior basketballers last week for the Australian Emus camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Hamilton is joined by four of his teammates from the most recent bronze medal winning side at the U17 World Cup on the training squad.

Australia secured its first podium finish at the junior world cup last June, where the Crocs defeated host nation Türkiye in the third place match.

“The primary objective at this stage is to have a great camp,” U19 Emus program head coach, Luke Brennan said.

“We will be looking at the combinations of the right talent that will commit to the relentless style of basketball that makes Australian teams formidable.”

In four previous international outings, Hamilton has secured two gold medals (U15 Asia Cup and U16 Asia Cup), silver medal (U17 Oceania Cup) and bronze medal for Australia.

The FIBA U18 Asia Cup takes place from August 13 to August 23, hosted in India.

FELLOW Traralgon junior Fletcher Adams is heading to Shanghai after being selected to the all-Victorian AUS Select team.

Bringing together athletes from the Victoria Metro and Victoria Country squads at the U18 Australian Junior Championships held earlier in the year, the team repping the national colours arrive for the Shanghai Future Stars Basketball Championships from this Sunday (August 9) to August 16.

The AUS Select team will take on some of the best U18 teams from across the world, including the Chinese national team and Montverde Academy from the United States.

Montverde Academy has produced NBA stars such as Cade Cunningham, Cooper Flagg and Australia’s own Ben Simmons, all of which were drafted first overall in their respective NBA drafts.

An exclusive VIC Select women’s side is also travelled to Seoul from last Wednesday (July 29) through to tomorrow (August 6) for a WKBL (Women’s Korean Basketball League) Futures League tournament.