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Jesse Wagstaff added to boomers camp for Argentina
Wagstaff added to Boomers' squad
June 22, 2010, 06:11 PM AEST
By: Chris Pike
Reigning NBL Rookie of the Year and Perth Wildcats' championship-winning forward Jesse Wagstaff has been called into the Boomers' training camp ahead of Friday's clash with Argentina.
Wagstaff received the call on Monday night that his services were required at the camp held at the State Basketball Centre this week ahead of the three-game series with world No. 1 Argentina starting Friday night at Challenge Stadium.
Wagstaff replaces the injured Aron Bayens in the squad that also includes fellow Wildcats championship players Damian Martin and Stephen Weigh, as well as NBA players Patrick Mills and Nathan Jawai.
Wagstaff joined in practice at the State Basketball Centre on Tuesday and will remain in camp on Wednesday and Thursday before the final 12 members are selected by coach Brett Brown to face Argentina in the opening game on Friday.
The 24-year-old versatile forward is coming off an outstanding rookie season with the Wildcats and is currently playing in the State Basketball League with the Perth Redbacks. He was certainly surprised by the call on Monday, but was chuffed and honoured at the same time.
"I was just sitting at home last night watching TV and flicking the channels when I got the call at about 10 o'clock. I was definitely surprised and certainly wasn't expecting it, but it was a real privilege to be invited into the group," Wagstaff said.
"It's extremely exciting to be involved. It's a different level up again from the NBL and the guys are all a lot faster, bigger and stronger. They are obviously skilled and talented players, and just to be on court with them was a massive honour."
Wagstaff enjoyed the chance to get out on court with the likes of Jawai and Mills, and feels that even if he doesn’t get picked to play he will take plenty out of the experience.
"Training was good. There was lots to take in obviously and I had plenty to catch up on, but I enjoyed it. I know most of them from around basketball circles and obviously Stevie and Damo were there, so it was nice to have them help me learn the ropes," he said.
"I'm just taking it one step at a time, 24 hours ago I wasn’t even in the squad at all. I'm just happy to be there in the camp and I'll take whatever I can out of it."
To now have three players in the mix to play for the Boomers from last year's championship squad who will all return for the 2010/11 season, shows the quality of the Wildcats group. Wagstaff feels that himself, Martin and Weigh can only benefit from the experience of this week.
"We had a good season obviously winning the championship and we will all take whatever we can out of this experience to help make us even better," Wagstaff said.
"Getting out in front of Challenge again I'm sure there'll be plenty of Wildcats supporters out there just like there has been at training so it'll be great."
Wildcats coach Rob Beveridge is a big fan of Wagstaff and isn’t surprised at all to see him added to the Boomers squad and feels that he has all the tools to make it at international level, like he does with Weigh and point guard Martin.
"If I was the coach I'd want Jesse involved. To me he is a Mark Worthington type of player. He has the ability to play inside and outside, and he's only young. His time will come and right now he will continue to work hard and there's no doubt he'll represent his country in the future," Beveridge said.
"Physically he needs to get bigger and stronger, and that's the emphasis. We've got him in the gym so he can become stronger, more athletic and able to play multiple positions. From a skill development perspective, he's got to be able to handle the ball better so he can be a perimeter player as well as a post player."
Boomers' squad for camp in Perth: Patrick Mills, Adam Gibson, Damian Martin, Jason Cadee, Steven Markovic, Joe Ingles, Matthew Dellavedova, Hugh Greenwood, Brad Newley, Stephen Weigh, Ben Allen, Ater Majok, Alex Loughton, Luke Nevill, Nathan Jawai, Jesse Wagstaff.
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