Tall Blacks coach Paul Henare has named three Hawks players in his New Zealand Select team to play six games on an intensive tour of China next month.
Taylor Corporation Hawks swingmen Ethan Rusbatch, Hyrum Harris and Mitchell Newton join Hawke's Bay guard Alonzo Burton, who captains Augusta Mountainairs, in a team to reinforce the paving of a pathway from the Sal's Pizza NBL.
All but one of the players and coaching staff members have come from the NBL.
"New Zealand Select is a great initiative and has already seen great results, with a number of players emerging from these tours to put pressure on others ahead of them in the pecking order, or for some to cement places in the MBO Tall Blacks," says Bay-born Henare.
"We selected a group of highly promising and mainly young talent from the Sal's NBL. We will place them in an international environment that will require them to go to a higher level and expose them to the challenges that international basketball can bring.
