BASKETBALL

FIBA

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

THE latest medal for Will Hamilton, while not gold, proved to be one of the best achievements yet for the Traralgon junior basketballer.

Stepping onto the FIBA Under 17 World Cup court, representing Australia for the fourth time in a short span of 18 months, Hamilton was an integral part in the Crocs marking themselves as the third best side in the world.

Australia finished the week-long international tournament, held in Türkiye, by defeating the host nation in the bronze medal match, 77 to 69.

The Latrobe Valley local was a difference maker in the decisive game, scoring 16 points and leading the way in many of the Crocs winning runs.

Before heading to Türkiye, Hamilton told the Express he was excited to be playing on the world stage, beyond Oceania and Asian countries.

“It’s the biggest stage and I couldn’t be more happy and looking forward to it,” he said.

Australia shot out of the gate, with Hamilton’s first score, a pull-up three pointer, extending the Crocs’ lead to 13-2 early on.

On the very next possession, Hamilton sunk another triple, before Australia ended the first quarter ahead by 18 points.

Hamilton checked back into the game with the Crocs still riding a commanding lead, and after Hamilton put in his third three pointer for the first half, Australia was up, 49-32.

Türkiye attempted to put forth a comeback once play returned, chipping away at its deficit, as the Crocs began to miss shots and turn the ball over.

A three pointer from Darius Karutasu brought the margin to seven points by the three quarter time break.

Hamilton looked to put the team on his back, after a less than stellar third quarter, scoring inside on the opening possession of the final term.

As the Crocs hung to a minor lead, Hamilton went to the basket again, with an impressive reverse lay-up in transition to move the margin to nine points.

Australia held on with timely free throws down the stretch, handing Australia’s first podium finish at the FIBA U17 World Cup since 2014.

The previous bronze medal team featured fellow Traralgon export Jack White.

Hamilton’s value to the most recent winning Australia side was shown with him having the best plus-minus, indicating that his team led by the most out of points (17) during his time on the court.

The Crocs’ road to the bronze medal saw the team dominate the group stage with wins over silver medallist Serbia (22 points), Cote d’Ivoire (5) and Venezuela (28).

In a close match against West African nation Cote d’Ivoire, Hamilton produced a winning performance with 16 points and four rebounds.

Australia then dismantled Slovenia by 29 points in the round of 16, with Hamilton adding 10 points and five rebounds.

After passing Canada with relative ease, in which Hamilton added another 16 points and four rebounds, it setup a showdown with perennial champions, the United States.

Fighting for a place in the gold medal match, Australia proved to be out of its depth, handily defeated by the US by 49 points.

The red, white and blue went on to win the gold medal, having been victorious at every iteration of the U17 World Cup since 2010, including extending its undefeated streak to 58 games in that time.

Hamilton’s overall statistics in his highest level of play so far in his young career, saw him average 10 points, three rebounds and 1.3 assists across seven games.

Previous to this, Hamilton won gold medals at the FIBA U15 Asia Cup in 2024 and U16 Asia Cup in 2025, as well as a silver medal at the U17 Oceania Cup last year.

The aforementioned U15 tournament saw him named MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the tournament in his debut for Australia.

Hamilton also plays for the Centre of Excellence at the Australia Institute of Sport, into his first season in the NBL1 East.

After starting the season off as the best team in the competition, CoE has gone on a significant losing streak and is in danger of missing finals due to the absence of Hamilton, Luke Paul and Antonio Browne completing duties with Australia.

With still another year of junior basketball to go, Hamilton pointed towards his desire to move overseas to try his hand at college basketball and eventually push for the NBL.