"Officially a Boomer": Young gun ready to live out dream

Fresh off making his Perth Wildcats debut, rising star Anthony Dell'Orso will make his long-awaited Australian Boomers debut later this month.

The Melbourne-born sharpshooter, who spent the past two seasons with the University of Arizona, will pull on the green and gold for the first time, after never being selected at a junior level.

"It's been a long time in the making, so I'm glad I've finally been available for it," Dell'Orso told CODE Sports.

"Growing up as an Australian, you want to represent your country and I've been fortunate enough to have been invited multiple times but, with college and then the NBA recently with the Draft and then Summer League [with the Sacramento Kings], I haven't been able to play.

"I'm glad that now I can finally put that jersey on and experience it and say that I'm officially a Boomer."

Dell'Orso is one of two rising stars set to debut for Jacob Chance's Boomers, with Brisbane's Max Mackinnon getting the call-up for the first time.

Joining these two in the squad will be South East Melbourne's Dash Daniels, Tanner Krebs and Angus Glover, Melbourne's Luke Travers and Tom Wilson, Illawarra's Sam Froling, Brisbane's Jacob Holt, Tasmania's Josh Bannan and Perth's Elijah Pepper - with two-time NBL champion Nick Kay rounding out the squad.

"We're really excited about this group. It's obviously a tricky time of the year with teams into deep pre-seasons all around the world. But, you know, we love the mix of guys who have played before, a couple of newer guys coming into the fold, and you're seeing some guys return that have been out for a while," Chance said.

"As always, we've got a bunch of selfless team-first characters that are coming in to do their absolute best for their country and do their best for our program. This is an important window for us as they all are."

The Boomers, who will face Syria and Jordan in Phase Two of the World Cup qualification, need to finish top three in Group E to automatically qualify for the major tournament next year.

The matchups tip off at 7pm AEST on Friday, August 28 and Sunday, August 30, broadcast on ESPN.

Australian Boomers squad:

- Josh Bannan (Tasmania)
- Dash Daniels (South East Melbourne)
- Anthony Dell'Orso (Perth)
- Sam Froling (Illawarra)
- Angus Glover (South East Melbourne)
- Jacob Holt (Brisbane)
- Nick Kay (Shimane Susanoo Magic/Japan)
- Tanner Krebs (South East Melbourne)
- Max Mackinnon (Brisbane)
- Elijah Pepper (Perth)
- Luke Travers (Melbourne)
- Tom Wilson (Melbourne)

Australian Boomers schedule:

- Australia v Syria - Friday, August 28 - 7pm AEST
- Australia v Jordan - Sunday, August 30 - 7pm AEST

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