Basketball: Two schoolboys among Tall Blacks triallists

Steven Adams. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Seventeen players are in contention for 12 spots and the potential to be in the New Zealand men's basketball team to play Australia for a 2012 Olympic Games berth.

Among that number are two high school students, several members of the New Zealand Breakers as well as a number of experienced heads.

Seventeen-year-old twin towers, Isaac Fotu and Steven Adams, are among those named today to attend the Tall Blacks trials in Auckland starting next Wednesday.

The 1.98m Fotu attends Rangitoto College on Auckland's North Shore while the 2.10m Wellington-based Adams has relatives throughout the New Zealand sporting scene, such as Olympic shot put champion Valerie Adams and notable basketballers Warren and Ralph Adams.

"It's a unique opportunity to bring them in and have them up against the big experienced guys," Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic said of the two teenagers.

"(It will be) A great learning experience for them. However they should know that everyone will be considered for selection."

Experienced internationals such as Breakers star Kirk Penney, naturalised American Casey Frank, Lindsay Tait, Mika Vukona, Alex Pledger and Tom Abercrombie all competed at last year's world championship Sydney and Athens Olympian Mark Dickel will also trial.

Missing from last year's world championship team are Pero Cameron and Phill Jones, who have both retired, while Craig Bradshaw is unavailable and Jeremy Kench injured.

The New Zealand team are building towards the Stankovic Cup tournament in China on August 5-10 followed a Four Nations tournament on August 22-25 in Turkey against the hosts, Montenegro and Ukraine.

The three-match Olympic Oceania qualifying series against Australia is across the Tasman on September 7-11.

Tall Blacks triallists: Tom Abercrombie (Waikato), Steven Adams (Wellington), Benny Anthony (Waikato), Everard Bartlett (Auckland), Mark Dickel (Southland), Michael Fitchett (Nelson), Isaac Fotu (NZ Breakers), Casey Frank (Wellington), Leon Henry (Wellington), Jarrod Kenny (Hawke's Bay), Morgan Natanahira (Hawke's Bay), Kirk Penney (NZ Breakers), Alex Pledger (Waikato), Lindsay Tait (Wellington), Jeremiah Trueman (Manawatu), Mika Vukona (Nelson), Corey Webster (Wellington).

- NZPA