Australian basketball’s biggest stars are set to go head to head with the best of American college basketball for two matches in Melbourne when the Boomers take on the USA’s Pac-12 College All-Stars.
Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren today announced Melbourne’s Hisense Arena as home of the 2016 Australian Boomers Olympic Farewell Series, to take place on 12 and 14 July.
Fans will see one of the biggest line-ups of home grown NBA stars ever assembled on Australian soil go head to head with some of the best college basketball talent out of the United States.
The Australian Olympic team is due to be announced in mid-July and will likely include NBA stars Andrew Bogut from the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers’ star Matthew Dellavedova, sharp shooter Patty Mills of the San Antonio Spurs, Joe Ingles (Utah Jazz), Aron Baynes (Detroit Pistons), and Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls).
The Pac-12, known as the “Conference of Champions” is one of the major NCAA College Basketball Conferences comprising of 12 leading West Coast Universities including big names such as Stanford, Colorado, Arizona and California.
The Pac-12 College All-Stars team will be coached by Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and former NBA coach Mike Montgomery.
The Farewell Series comes hot on the heels of last year’s sell out FIBA Oceania Championship at Rod Laver Arena.
There is no greater city in the world for this Series than right here in Melbourne, the recently named Ultimate Sports City of the Decade.
Victoria is Australia’s events capital – with major events delivering a $1.8 billion boost to our state’s economy each year – and we want to stay that way.
That’s why the Andrews Labor Government has put an extra $80 million into our events war chest and established Visit Victoria – ensuring we grab the biggest and best events to keep our economy strong.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Tourism and Major Events John Eren
“Victoria is the undisputed home of basketball in Australia, so we’re proud to send the Australian Boomers off to Rio in style with this year’s Farewell Series.”
“Our Boomers stars are dominating in the NBA like never before, and now they’ll be back on home soil in green and gold before they tip off their quest for Olympic success.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020