Five NBL players named in Under 19 Men’s World Cup Team

Friday, June 4, 2021

Five NBL players will represent Australia at the upcoming FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, which will take place in the cities of Riga and Daugavpils from 3-11 July.

The team features Akoldah Gak from the Illawarra Hawks, Tamuri Wigness and Blake Jones from the Brisbane Bullets as well as Jaylin Galloway and the newly signed Biwali Bayles from the Sydney Kings.

Gak has appeared for the Hawks four times so far this season and comes in as a tall threat for the Emus side, standing at 210cm.

Wigness and Jones have both had promising seasons for the Bullets and will continue their journeys in the NBL1 North competition with Brisbane and Logan, respectively.

The upcoming Junior World Championships marks the third for Wigness, who previously participated in the 2017 U17 and 2019 U19 FIBA World Cups.

Jones also dominated the recent Australia U20 Championships for Queensland with averages of 20 points and six rebounds per game.

His U20 opponent Galloway played minutes with the NBA Global Academy’s team and has also made eight appearances for the Kings so far this season.

Bayles will suit up for Sydney in the 2021-2022 NBL season after helping Australia secure a gold medal at the 2019 FIBA U17 Oceania Championships while averaging 9.5 points and three assists.

Australia has drawn Pool D for the upcoming championships along with USA, Turkey and Mali.

The Emus’ first game of the tournament will take place on Saturday 3 July against Mali.

Australian Emus U19 FIBA World Cup Team

Taran Armstrong

Biwali Bayles – Sydney Kings

Reyne Smith

Tamuri Wigness – Brisbane Bullets

Jaylin Galloway – Sydney Kings

Blake Jones – Brisbane Bullets

Bol Dengdit

Dyson Daniels

Leyi Adebayo