Five young New Zealand basketballers will get the chance to rub shoulders with NBA coaches, NBA scouts and fellow NBA aspirants when they attend the FIBA and NBA backed Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp in Australia next month.
 
The prestigious camp is an invite only opportunity for players to be put on a world stage with the best players born in 1999 from the Asian region and will this year be hosted at the Dandenong Basketball Stadium in Melbourne, from June 23-26, marking the first time that the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program will be held in Australia.  BWB will celebrate its 15th anniversary this summer.
 
Attending for New Zealand will be:
 
•         Samuel Waardenburg, power forward, 208cm, 17 years old, North Harbour Association
•         Daniel Fotu, small forward, 192cm, 16 years old, North Harbour
•         Quinn Clinton, combo guard, 190cm, 17 years old, Canterbury
•         Hamish McDonald, guard, 185cm, 17 years old, Waikato
•         Callum McRae, centre, 212cm, 16 years old (turns 17 on May 18), Palmerston North
 
Basketball New Zealand CEO Iain Potter says the invite for the five young men is further testament to the growing reputation of New Zealand as a producer of outstanding basketball talent.
 
“New Zealand is highly regarded on the world stage, with all of our teams, men and women, from age group to our senior national teams. That is largely the result of our ability to consistently foot it with much bigger countries and higher ranked teams, whether it is our U18 men winning FIBA 3X3 World Championships (2011 and 2015), the Tall Blacks winning the Stankovic Cup in China (2011 and 2015) or individual players making their mark in the world such as Steven Adams in the NBA, Micaela Cocks in the Australian Women’s NBL or younger players both men and women at strong American Universities.
 
“The Basketball Without Borders camp is highly regarded throughout the world, and will be supported by and attended by NBA and American College scouts, all looking to unearth the next great talent. I am proud to say that our young New Zealanders will feature high on their list of players to watch. We wish the five all the best and advise them to soak up as much experience and take on board as much as they can in what will be a whirlwind week of basketball education.”
 
As well as the players attending BWB and the doors that might open for them, Junior Tall Blacks head coach Daryl Cartwright and possibly assistant coach Gavin Briggs (TBC) will also attend to further their experience on the international stage.
 
“This is a fantastic opportunity for Daryl and possibly Gavin as well to further their coaching experience and to see firsthand a camp of this magnitude,” said Potter. “They will get the chance to workshop and rub shoulders with coaches from around the world and from some of the best leagues in the world, which is a further investment in them that they can bring home in their work with the Junior Tall Blacks and other teams they work with during the year.”
 
The players themselves are understandably delighted at the opportunity, here is what they each had to say upon hearing the news.
 
“I’m really pleased and excited to have received this invitation to attend the BWB Camp in Melbourne in June. Training and playing with my NZ team mates as well as athletes from Australia and Asia under the NBA, NBL and FIBA coaches is going to be an amazing experience which will hopefully help me achieve my current goal of playing
College Basketball in the United States from next year.” – Hamish McDonald.
 
"It is an honour to be able to participate in this camp, and have the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced people in basketball. I'm thrilled to be a part of this first ever Basketball Without Borders camp in Australia, and represent my country at this high level." – Sam Waardenburg.
 
“When I found out I had been selected for the Basketball Without Borders camp I was really happy and excited. I have heard of the camp before and know what a great experience it is, to be able to train and play with such great athletes from around Asia, Australia and New Zealand it will be amazing. To be coached by NBA, NBL or Fiba coaches will be awesome and I really want to go over and take everything in and hopefully it will make me a better player and leader.” – Dan Fotu
 
“I’m really excited to be able to have the opportunity to train with and against players who are at or above my level that I don’t have in my area. I’m also looking forward to having coaches who know what it takes to reach leagues such as the NBA and who may have been in a similar position to me before. This will help my development immensely as I will be able to compare myself to other centres around my size and age in this region, also being coached by coaches who can see the areas where I need to improve on so I can take my basketball to a higher level. I am very grateful for this opportunity and I'm looking forward to experiencing and take advantage of what they have to offer.” – Callum McRae
 
“I’m extremely excited by the thought of participating in the first ever BWB camp to be held in Melbourne, Australia. I feel very lucky to have this opportunity to represent New Zealand and compete with players from different countries while learning from world-class coaches. It’s a huge learning opportunity.” – Quinn Clinton
 
 
Since 2001, BWB has reached more than 2,500 participants from 130 countries and territories, with 37 campers drafted into the NBA.  Twenty-one former BWB campers were on opening-night rosters for the 2015-16 NBA season.

The first-ever Basketball without Borders camp took place in Europe in July 2001.  Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslav national team, reunited to work with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and Montenegro at La Ghirada in Treviso, Italy.  Since then, the NBA and FIBA have staged 45 BWB camps in 26 cities across 22 countries on five continents.  More than 210 current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players have joined nearly 160 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to support BWB across the world.

Since first being invited to send players in 2012, nine young New Zealand players have attended BWB camps and all have benefited from the experience and many have gone on to achieve higher honours with world titles, American University scholarships and places in New Zealand and Australian NBL teams (see list below). 

2012 Basketball Without Borders Camp (Japan)
1.    Derone Raukara – 2012 3x3 Worlds (8th), currently with Southland Sharks
2.    Anamata Haku – 2012 3x3 Worlds (8th), 2012 JTB, Currently with Southland Sharks
3.    Reuben Te Rangi – 2011 3x3 World Champion, 2010 & 2012 JTB, 2013 & 15 Tall Blacks, Breakers, currently with Super City Rangers, signed with Brisbane Bullets
4.    Tom Vodanovich – 2012 JTB, currently at James Madison University (D1)
5.    Delroi Heu – 2012 JTB
 
2014 Basketball Without Borders Camp (Taiwan): 
1.    Angus Riley – Bryant University (Div1)
2.    Izaya Mauriohooho Le’afa – 2014 JTB, 2014 Youth Olympics, 2013 Tall Blacks (at 16), recently been announced that he got picked up by Sacramento State University.
3.    Matt Freeman – 2015 3x3 World Champion, 2014 JTB, University of Oklahoma (Div1), was selected to go to the 2015 BWB Global camp in New York City as part of the NBA All-Star Weekend 2015.
4.    Nikau McCullough – 2015 3x3 U18 World Champion, going to St Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas in June on a full scholarship
 
For further information about FIBA, visit fiba.com or follow FIBA on facebook.com/fiba, twitter.com/fiba, instagram.com/fiba and youtube.com/fiba.