The future looks bright: Emus romp to victory at 2024 FIBA U18 Asia Cup

Australia's Under 18 men's team recently claimed a second FIBA U18 Asia Cup title, with a dominant 96-33 final victory over rivals New Zealand.

As part of the nation’s transition towards competing in the Asian basketball championships - in favour of the traditional FIBA Oceania tournaments - Australia first appeared at the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship in 2018, claiming a gold medal on debut. The COVID-19 pandemic subsequently robbed Australia of a potential title defence, as the 2020 edition of the biennial competition was cancelled. The boys in green and gold also weren’t sighted in 2022, due to security concerns surrounding the host nation of Iran.

When Australia made a return for the 2024 edition in Jordan, the Emus were no longer defending champions, and faced pressure to reestablish themselves as Asia’s premier team in their age group.

Credit: FIBA

The Aussies started off their campaign with a bang, thrashing Mongolia by a score of 93-32. Jack Whitbourn was an early standout; the 6’11 big man logged 15 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to finish on a tidy double-double. He was simply too much for the smaller Mongolian front court, whose tallest player stood at just 6’7 tall. Six of Whitbourn’s ten boards were corralled on the offensive glass, leading to numerous second chance opportunities for Australia. Three other Emus - Dash Daniels (14), Jacob Furphy (13) and Luke Fennell (12) - also finished in double-digit points, with Daniels showing some defensive tenacity en route to three steals.

Despite the convincing win, Australia did appear to be severely lacking in one area.