NBL teams will go through a different type of pre-season test next month when three NCAA teams head to Australia for a series of friendly matches against the Sydney King and the Melbourne Tigers.
NCAA teams with Australian connections, Butler, St Mary’s and the University of New Mexico, will be in Australia in early August for a round of yet to be announced hit outs according to News Limited.
St Mary’s has been the home to a number of special Australian talents in recent years- namely Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova- and will take on Melbourne on August 15.
Mills, a product of St Mary’s from 2007-2009, has starred for the Australian Boomers at the past two Olympic Games and plays with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs. Dellavedova played four seasons with the college and has spent the current American summer playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Summer League team. Former Gael Lucas Walker will suit up for the Tigers against his old college.
The University of New Mexico has a date with the Sydney Kings on August 6 and features two Aussies in Cam Bairstow and Tasmanian playmaker Hugh Greenwood. The Lobos are also the former college home of Australian great Luc Longley.
Butler, playing the Kings on the 8th, is coming off a special appearance in the 2010 NCAA Tournament where the team lost by a basket to Duke in the final. Former coach Brad Stevens was a recent hire of the NBA’s Boston Celtics and will begin coaching the team this season.
The Adelaide 36ers will hit the road for a six-game series in China next month with new acquisitions Gary Ervin and Jarrid Frye.
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