Hunter selected to make Boomers debut

Sydney Kings big man Jordi Hunter has been rewarded for his strong NBL24 season by gaining selection in the Australian Boomers squad for the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.

The two matches against South Korea (in Bendigo on Thursday, February 22) and Indonesia (in Jakarta on Sunday, February 25) will represent Hunter's first in the green and gold at a senior level. 

"It means the world to represent Australia," King #210 Hunter said.

"Since I started playing, this has been my goal.

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"I’m incredibly grateful to all my teammates and coaches who made it possible - especially the Sydney Kings family who have believed in me and affording me the opportunity to make this jump.

"I am incredibly excited - it's an immense honour.

"I hope I do the purple and gold proud when I pull on the green and gold jersey."

Joining the Norths Bears junior in the Boomers squad are King #221 Dejan Vasiljevic and King #188 Isaac Humphries, as well as Adelaide's Mitch McCarron and Nick Marshall, Brisbane's Josh Bannan and Rocco Zikarsky, Perth's Ben Henshall, Cairns' Taran Armstrong, Shimane Susanoo Magic's Nick Kay and Centre of Excellence pair Kye Savage and Josh Dent.

Former Kings mentor Brian Goorjian is the coach, with Jacob Chance (Melbourne), Kerry Williams (Cairns) and Robert McKinlay (Centre of Excellence) on his staff - alongside Kings physio David Hillard, Thomas Maher, Dr. James Ooi, Albert (junior) Viranatuleo and Andrew McIntosh.

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Basketball Australia executive general manager of high-performance and King #86 Jason Smith said more FIBA windows presented the opportunity to blood young talent.

“We are looking to include Centre of Excellence athletes in the majority of our FIBA windows to give experience and exposure to candidates we believe will be future Australian Boomers," Smith said.

Australian Boomers head coach Brian Goorjian said basketball fans were in for a treat watching the next generation of players.

“I’m looking forward to our game in Bendigo, I hear it’s a full house so that’s going to provide a great atmosphere," Goorjian said.

“There is a lot of interest in the young talent coming through and this will be a great opportunity for them to play alongside some of our most experienced players.

“It’s always an honour to coach the Boomers but there is always something special about playing at home and I know the Bendigo fans are in for a special night of basketball.”