Bendigo's Dyson Daniels has played plenty of big basketball matches throughout his career.
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However, come Saturday night he will don the green and gold for his biggest game to date.
Daniels will make his debut with the Australian Boomers in a 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifying (Group C) match against the New Zealand Tall Blacks on Saturday in Cairns at 6.30pm (AEDT)
"I'm very lucky to have been given this opportunity...I've put in the hard work," Daniels said.
"I'm ready to go and give it my best shot.
"This is one of my long-time goals to be able to represent Australia at the highest level and this is the perfect opportunity to show what I can do personally, but also what we can accomplish as a team."
Based in Canberra at the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence, Daniels is in a team of 12 that has a mixture of US college players, NBA Global Academy members and Centre of Excellence scholarship holders.
The squad will be coached by Adam Caporn (CoE men's head coach/Tokyo 2020 men's Olympic team assistant coach) in addition to other support staff who have plenty of elite experience.
Daniels praised the coaching he had received during the past 18 months while in Canberra at the AIS.
However, he also credited his grassroots coaches for developing him into an international elite athlete.
"I'm still in contact with plenty of my old coaches from Bendigo and I couldn't be more thankful of where I came from and everyone that's helped me get to where I am today," Daniels said.
The Tall Blacks squad features multiple players who are set to make their debut under the guidance of coach Pero Cameron.
Daniels said the Tall Blacks were certain to put on a tough competition.
"This is going to be a great match up against a team that's well-coached," he said.
"But we will go out there take the opportunity with both hands and give our best effort."
Boomers Asia Cup qualifier squad
- Taran Armstrong - guard
- Hunter Clarke - guard
- Dyson Daniels - guard/forward
- Hunter Goodrick - forward
- Matt Kenyon - guard
- Jack McWilliams - centre
- David Okwera - forward
- Tyrese Proctor - guard
- Patrick Ryan - guard/forward
- Reyne Smith - guard
- Alex Toohey - forward
- Harry Wessels - centre
Group C includes Guam, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia.
The top two teams in each group contesting the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers will secure a spot in the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup scheduled for August.
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