Pac-12 Announces 2016 All-Star Basketball Tour of Australia

SAN FRANCISCO - As part of the Pac-12 Global initiative, the Pac-12 Conference will send an All-Star Men's Basketball Team to Melbourne, Australia for a series of cultural experiences and exhibition games against the Australia Men's National Team in July 2016.

The Pac-12 All-Star Men’s Basketball Team, comprised of 12 student-athletes from 10 member schools, will participate in two games against the Australia Men's National Team - known as the Australian Boomers - in its preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as well as a third contest versus a team from the semi-professional South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).

“This tour of Australia marks an important step forward in the Pac-12’s mission to use the power of sport to advance our schools’ reach around the world, and to give our student-athletes opportunities to learn about a new culture while playing a sport they love,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott.

Pac-12 Global was founded in 2011 and has already sent one All-Star Men’s Basketball Team abroad as a Pac-12 All-Star team traveled to China in August 2014 in advance of the first-ever regular season contest by any U.S. sports league in the nation when WASHINGTON faced Texas in Shanghai in November 2015. The second Pac-12 China Game will feature STANFORD and Harvard in Shanghai on November 12, 2016, with television coverage in the U.S. on Nov. 11.

The Pac-12 All-Star Men’s Basketball Team’s tour, promoted by TLA Worldwide and TEG Live, will be the first of two events involving Pac-12 member institutions in Australia this year as CALIFORNIA will open the 2016 college football season on August 27 in Sydney against Hawai’i. This historic game is also being delivered and operated by TLA Worldwide and TEG Live.

Four-time Conference Coach of the Year and 2016 College Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Mike Montgomery will serve as head coach of the Pac-12 All-Star Men’s Basketball Team, headlined by 2016 honorable mention All-Pac-12 performers Josh Hawkinson (WASHINGTON STATE) and Jordan McLaughlin (USC), and 2016 honorable mention Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection Wesley Gordon (COLORADO).

Montgomery, who ranks 21st in NCAA Division I history with 676 career victories in 32 seasons as head coach at CALIFORNIA, STANFORD and Montana, will be joined on the coaching staff by Trent Johnson, a Coach of the Year in three different conferences, and former STANFORD All-American guards Brevin Knight and Casey Jacobsen. The staff will lead a three-day training camp in Los Angeles from July 5-7 before the group embarks on the tour from July 9-14.

The six-day tour will also provide student-athletes the opportunity to experience Australian culture, visit historic landmarks, and engage in off-the-court activities in the country's second-most populous city.

“We are pleased to work with the Pac-12 and their extraordinary global vision to bring more world class events to Australia, one of the world’s greatest and most passionate markets for sport,” said Mike Principe, CEO of TLA. “Together with TEG Live, we look forward to providing an unforgettable experience for the student-athletes and stiff competition for the Australian Boomers as they prepare for a strong run in 2016 Summer Olympics.”

Justin Papps, Managing Director of TEG Live said, “We are extremely proud to be involved in the Australian Boomers Farewell Series, showcasing some of the best local and international basketball talent on home soil. Together with our partners at TLA, we are confident that Australian sports fans will get behind the Boomers and give these world-class athletes a fitting send off to Rio.”

Game dates are slated for Sunday, July 10 (vs. SEABL team), Tuesday, July 12 (vs. Australia MNT), and Thursday, July 14 (vs. Australia MNT). All three games will be held at Hisense Arena, a 10,500-seat venue that serves as the home of Melbourne United, the city's franchise in the professional National Basketball League (NBL). The group will then return to the U.S. on July 15.

Among the 17 finalists for the Australia Men's National Team Olympic roster are three former Pac-12 standouts in Aron Baynes (WASHINGTON STATE), Andrew Bogut (UTAH) and Brock Motum (WASHINGTON STATE). Along with Baynes and Bogut, the Boomers' potential Olympic Games roster includes current NBA players Cameron Bairstow, Matthew Dellavedova, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles and Patrick Mills.

The Boomers’ list of 17 finalists will be reduced to 12 ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from August 6-21. The Boomers qualified for the 2016 Games as 2015 FIBA Oceania Champions and will be joined in Group A by China, United States, Venezuela and two teams from FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in Italy, the Philippines, and Serbia in July.

PAC-12 ALL-STAR MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER

* 2016 Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team
** 2016 Honorable Mention Pac-12 Defensive Team
*** 2016 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team
**** 2016 Honorable Mention All-Pac-12
***** 2016 Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 and 2016 Pac-12 All-Academic First Team

DAILY ITINERARY

About Pac-12 Global
Founded in 2011, Pac-12 Global is an unprecedented effort to proactively promote the Conference and its member institutions globally through student-athlete exchanges and sport. The Initiative uses the shared passion of athletics to support the ambitious international strategies that many of our universities have embarked on to extend their reach around the world. For more information on the initiative and its history, go to www.pac-12.com/global.

About the Pac-12 Conference
The Conference has a tradition as the “Conference of Champions,” leading the nation in NCAA Championships in 50 of the last 55 years, with 487 NCAA team titles overall. The Conference comprises 12 leading U.S. universities: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Colorado, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, the University of Utah, the University of Washington and Washington State University. For more information on the Conference’s programs, member institutions, and Commissioner Larry Scott, go to www.pac-12.com/conference.

About TLA Worldwide
TLA Worldwide is a leading athlete representation, event management and sports marketing group quoted on AIM-LSE in London. The Group derives revenues from long term agency relationships with many prominent US and international sports stars, broadcasters and media personalities associated with major sports including the MLB, NFL, NBA, PGA tour, AFL and Olympians and Cricketers. In addition, it also provides a range of services in respect of media consultancy, sports sponsorship and event creation and ownership, including the International Champions Cup tournament in Australia. With over 170 full-time personnel, TLA Worldwide serves its clients from 10 locations worldwide including its offices in London, UK; New York; Newport Beach, California, USA; Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Sydney, Australia. For more information, please visit www.tlaworldwide.com.

About TEG Live
TEG Live is wholly owned by TEG Pty Limited, Australia’s leading integrated live entertainment solutions company with extensive capabilities in ticketing, digital, data and the promotion of live sport and entertainment events. TEG Live has been designed to enhance the quality of the Australian live entertainment and events industry through the development and commercialisation of live content across all entertainment genres. TEG Live’s core service includes touring, exhibitions, brand partnerships, sponsorship and corporate hospitality, event management and consulting.