Previewing The Junior Tall Blacks at the U19 FIBA World Cup
These are heady times for basketball in Aotearoa. You only have to tune into any random NBL game to witness the calibre of our emerging young talent and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Last year, the Junior Tall Blacks finished fourth at the FIBA U17 World Cup. It was an astonishing run during which they became only the second New Zealand team to ever make the semi-finals of a FIBA World Cup event of any age/gender – the other instance, of course, being the 2002 Tall Blacks.
Oscar Goodman was the MVP of that team, earning selection to the tournament’s All Star Five, though this was the furthest thing from a one-man band. In true kiwi basketball fashion, coach Leyton Haddleton had his squad playing selflessly and courageously with full belief that they belonged among the world’s best in their age group. Which clearly they did, winning games against Turkey, Argentina, Egypt, and Lithuania throughout their journey. It was legendary stuff.
Also happening last year was an U18 Asia Cup at which the NZ representatives made it to the final. It might not have been quite as flash as what the U17s got up to but this group can’t be overlooked either. This was a completely different squad of players yet the same values shone through. They played beyond the sum of their individuals parts... and those individuals were pretty handy themselves. Tama Isaac was honoured in the All Star Five while Carter Hopoi was unlucky not to join him after averaging a double-double for the tourney. Matt Lacey coached that group (he’s recently been added to the NZ Breakers staff in another happy development under the new ownership).
Two really excellent age grade sides that produced the goods at big tournaments. Well, guess what? Over the next couple of weeks, the FIBA U19 World Cup is happening in Switzerland and Coach Lacey has picked a squad that cuts pretty much down the middle of those two history making youth teams of 2024. Five from the U17 World Cup, five from the U18 Asia Cup... and then two fellas that didn’t play at either. It’s a combination of the best of both teams and it would not be hyperbole to say that this may be the most talented youth roster ever assembled in these black singlets...
Jackson Ball (Basketball Hawke's Bay)
Will Blight (Nelson Basketball Association)
Lachlan Crate (Basketball Manawatū)
Oscar Goodman (Basketball Taranaki)
Julius Halaifonua (Harbour Basketball)
Carter Hopoi (Tauranga City Basketball Association)
Tama Isaac (Canterbury Basketball Association)
Hayden Jones (Nelson Basketball Association)
Xanda Marsters (Rotorua Basketball Association)
Troy Plumtree (Wellington Basketball Association)
Kahu Treacher (Basketball Hawke's Bay)
Josh Wyllie (Harbour Basketball)
Lots of names that regular NBL viewers will recognise, with everyone except Halaifonua and Goodman having been involved this season. And those dudes haven’t just been making up the numbers either. Jackson Ball has averaged 20.8 points per game for the Hawke’s Bay Hawks with shooting splits of 51/36/85... making him one of the most efficient scorers in the competition and he only turned 17 years old in in March. Carter Hopoi is another who’s shone for Tauranga Whai, muscling up against seasoned veterans for his 5.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Hayden Jones was really finding his feet with a resurgemtn Nelson Giants team prior to leaving with this squad. Then there’s Tama Isaac who has been a sharp-shooting contributor off the bench in back-to-back Canterbury Rams championships.
As for the two that haven’t been involved, well that’s only because they’re probably the two most pedigreed kiwi prospects we’ve got right now. Goodman and Halaifonua were in the NBA Global Academy but more recently have moved to America to pursue the university stuff, a pathway that most/all of these guys will follow them down eventually if they haven’t already. That Global Academy had them training regularly with some of the best teenaged players in all of Asia/Oceania, with Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels among those who’ve walked that path before them.
Along with his U17 World Cup heroics, Goodman was also MVP of the FIBA U16 Asian Championship in 2023. He’s a versatile wing who stands at 6’8 and plays as hard as he does smart. OG actually linked up with Michigan last year but he redshirted his first season in order to give him time to acclimatise without using up one of his years of eligibility. He’ll be ripping in for the Wolverines next chance he gets. Similar deal with Julius Halaifonua at Georgetown. He’s a seven footer centre with some sweet passing for his position and decent scoring touch. He was able to play six games for Georgetown last season but then a fractured ankle cut short his freshman season before he’d really gotten started. But he’s played for the Tall Blacks since then so he’s all good now. Would say there’s shades of Steven Adams about him but actually it’s Steven Adams who is in the shadows when he stands next to this amigo...
NZ U19 World Cup Squad by USA College Affiliation
Oscar Goodman - Michigan
Julius Halaifonua - Georgetown
Jackson Ball & Hayden Jones - Wisconsin
Tama Isaac - UC Irvine
Carter Hopoi - Valparaiso
Troy Plumtree - Cal Poly
Kahu Treacher - Eastern Arizona College
All of those are NCAA Division 1 schools except for Treacher’s Eastern Arizona who play in the top tier of NJCAA basketball – it’s always buzzy to think about how many universities they have in that country and how many basketballers must pass through them every year. None of these dudes have gotten started yet except for Halaifonua and Treacher. Michigan and Wisconsin both made the National Tournament earlier this year so that’s what Goodman, Ball, and Jones are soon to be stepping into. Jackson Ball and Hayden Jones will have a readymade mentor waiting for them at Wisconsin because that’s where Kirk Penney – one of only two fellas from Aotearoa in the FIBA Hall of Fame alongside his mate Pero Cameron – is part of the coaching staff there. It’s also the uni that KP attended as a student/player back in the day.
What’s more, Jackson Ball, Oscar Goodman, Julius Halaifonua, Tama Isaac, Hayden Jones, and Carter Hopoi have already debuted for the Tall Blacks. The TBs often use the last spot on their rosters as a developmental opportunity for a top prospect and lucky for them there’s no shortage of lads lining up for those at the moment. Ball, Goodman, Halaifonua, and Isaac were involved in the most recent series against Australia.
This is how the split between the two 2024 youth sides works...
U17 World Cup: Jackson Ball, Lachlan Crate, Oscar Goodman, Hayden Jones, Troy Plumlee
U18 Asia Cup: Will Blight, Julius Halaifonua, Carter Hopoi, Tama Isaac, Kahu Treacher
Neither: Xanda Marsters, Josh Wyllie
The group stage games begin this weekend with the Junior TBs facing Argentina on Saturday at 9.15pm, Mali at 0:00 on Monday (in other words, the minute that comes after 11.59pm on Sunday), and then group favourites Serbia at 9.45pm on Tuesday. Those are NZT times and dates. From there, everybody advances to the quarter-finals with seeding determined by group performances... so if we don’t want to play USA in the round of sixteen then it’ll help to win a game from the initial trio. It’s straight knockouts from then onwards with classification games upon defeat so that everyone gets a ranking between 1-16. Tough yakka... but just remember not to judge youth teams based on their senior team capabilities.
Argentina qualified as runners-up in the Americas competition, getting thrashed by USA in the final after winning knockout games against Venezuela and Dominican Republic. They hosted that AmeriCup and lost to Brazil and USA in pool play but pool play was only for classification purposes with all eight teams advancing. Mali were the champs of last year’s U18 AfroBasket tournament, winning every game along the way including beating Cameroon 60-51 in the final. Much of Mali’s squad developed their skills in Spain and most of them are now based either there, in France, or in the USA. Mali finished second at the 2019 U19 World Cup which is the best ever performance by an African team at a FIBA world tournament. And Serbia are the favourites to top the group having been runners-up behind Germany at the U18 EuroBasket, with that final being their only defeat.
New Zealand is in Group A. Since we could end up playing anyone in the next round, might as well carry on and say that Group B contains China, Slovenia, Germany, and Canada. In Group C you’ll find Jordan, Switzerland, Israel, and Dominican Republic. And Group D contains the fascinating quartet of Cameroon, USA, Australia, and France. NZ has been to three previous Men’s U19 World Cups and have never finished inside the top ten. They ranked 13th in 2009, 11th in 2017, and 13th in 2019. There was no U19 World Cup in 2021 for obvious reasons and BBNZ opted against trying to qualify for the last one for unfortunate financial reasons.
None of the New Zealand squad have played in the Australian NBL yet. That’s only a matter of time but, as mentioned earlier, most of them are targetting USA colleges first. However, with the exception of big dogs Oscar Goodman and Julius Halaifonua (might just mention here that Halaifonua didn’t actually play at the U18 Asia Cup despite being named in the squad... that might have been around when he was doing his college recruitment or possibly he had an untimely injury – point being that the best player didn’t even feature at that tournament)... the other ten have all been involved in the New Zealand NBL this year. That ranges from Jackson Ball doing incredible things with Hawke’s Bay as one of the most efficient scorers in the competition despite being one of its youngest players... down to someone like Troy Plumtree who had to gap it after a couple of games when his American obligations took over. Doubtful that any of them will get back from the U19 WC in time to feature again but this wave of emerging ballers has been one of the thrills of the 2025 season and now we’ve got an U19 World Cup that’s going to highlight it.
NZ U19 World Cup Squad By 2025 NBL Minutes
Jackson Ball (Hawke’s Bay) – 598 mins
Carter Hopoi (Tauranga) – 465 mins
Hayden Jones (Nelson) – 346 mins
Tama Isaac (Canterbury) – 311 mins
Lachlan Crate (Nelson) – 276 mins
Josh Wyllie (Auckland) – 167 mins
Xanda Marsters (Tauranga) – 139 mins
Kahu Treacher (Hawke's Bay) – 40 mins
Troy Plumtree (Wellington) – 29 mins
Will Blight (Nelson) – 5 mins
And with that it only remains to sit back, soak it all up, and see what we can learn. These youth tournaments are impossible to predict but none of these NZ players (or the coaching staff) are going to be intimidated. This is a special wave of players and they’ve already proved it. Now they get to prove it again.
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