Newly re-signed Castec Rural Pioneers player and Adelaide 36ers young gun, Nick Marshall will wear the green and gold for the first time after being selected in the Australian Boomers team for the next FIBA World Cup qualifying window.
The Boomers will play Bahrain today, then tackle Kazakhstan on February 26 with both games to be played at the State Basketball Centre in Melbourne.
Marshall last week said the chance to represent his country on home soil was a dream come true.
“I got a phone call on Wednesday afternoon just asking for some details then Dean (Vickerman, Boomers coach for this window), sent me a text last night and said I was selected,” Marshall said.
“I just got up after I got that text and said, ‘let’s go’, I was so happy.
“I was waiting for a phone call, but I got a text message. “He will call me (Thursday) to go over some more details, my role and stuff like that.”
The 198cm swingman was elevated to the main roster in NBL23 and has averaged 3.1 points per match across his 33 NBL games, including a breakout 15-point performance against South East Melbourne last December.
“When I started making my way into the 36ers, that’s when my Boomers dreams began and I started to think about it that it would be pretty cool to represent Australia and play for my country,” Marshall said.
Mitch McCarron is also on the Boomers team and Marshall said it was special to make his international debut with his club captain.
“Yeah, that is going to be sick, not only Macca (McCarron), but Pearl (36ers assistant coach Jamie Pearlman) and Jazzy (team manger Jared Campbell) will also be there, which is pretty special,” Marshall said.
“To play with Isaac Humphries again, it will be cool to be a part of it with those guys as well.”
Australia sits on top of Group F with a 9-1 record and has already qualified for this year’s World Cup, but the Boomers will want to put on a show in front of home fans.
Meanwhile, four local youngsters have been selected in the underage state basketball teams.
Mount Gambier’s Stella Mobbs will head to Brendale, Queensland in April in the under 18 side. Stella has played all her junior competition for Basketball Mount Gambier, having represented the association at Lakers since being eligible for Under 12s.
She is a current member of the OneFortyOne Pioneers team and been part of the Limestone Coast Academy for the last few years.
Stella has been selected and represented SAC for the last few years and this current selection comes off recovering from a knee injury that has seen her side lined for nearly 12 months.
Millicent basketballers Edie Easterby, Jackson Bowden and Jack Haggett have also been selected to represent SA Country.
