Ahead of their first game of the 2019 Summer Universiade against Israel the Emerging Boomers held an intimate jersey presentation and named Jack White as their captain and Brisbane Bullets’ Will Magnay (Open Universities) as vice-captain.
White is no stranger to leading a team, the sociology student is the captain for NCAA top ranked Duke University and knows the responsibility that comes with the title.
“It means a lot to me,” White said.
“First and foremost, it’s a huge honour to be a part of this team and represent my country, but to be named captain and lead this team out on the court every time we step out and compete is something I’ll forever be grateful for.”
The Emerging Boomers are looking to improve upon their ninth-place finish from the 2017 Universaide and have added some top talent from the NCAA including Hawaii’s Jack Purchase and St. Mary’s University’s Jock Perry.
“We want to come out of the tournament with a gold medal, and as a group we truly believe we can achieve that,” White said.
“Overall though, the boys and I want to have fun playing the game we love and enjoy the experience of representing our country on the world stage.”
The Emerging Boomers dropped their first game of the Universaide to gold medal favourites Israel falling 92-64.
Australia struggled to get open looks from beyond the 3-point line, going just 3-14 from beyond the arc. Going in at half-time down 10 points, the Israeli class began to show in the second half despite some true grit shown from the Australian team. Dejan Vasiljevic (University of Miami) was important with 14-points, while captain Jack White was strong on the boards with 6 rebounds.
Australia will look to rebound in their next game when they take on Mexico on Friday (July 5th) at 10:30am CEST (18:30 AEST).