Morgan Nathan, Sam King and Tom Rowe, all of whom were educated at Otago Boys High School, had their places in the 12-man squad confirmed yesterday.
A fourth player with local links, Riki Buckrell, an ex-pupil of Waitaki Boys High School who now lives in the Hutt Valley, also made the cut.
Rowe, Buckrell, Josh Bloxham (Nelson) and Tipene Friday (Porirua) are newcomers to the team, named following a three-day camp at the Te Rauparaha Arena in Porirua earlier this week.
The Otago trio are all 18 and all play on the forward line, with Rowe standing 2m, King 1.99m and Nathan 1.97m.
Dion Prewster will captain a team that includes fellow United States-based forward Richie Edwards, back-to-back New Zealand secondary schools most valuable player Brook Ruscoe and Tall Blacks triallist Rob Loe, the tallest player at 2.11m.
Prewster, a Junior Tall Black since 2005 and captain the past two years, returned from his freshman season at San Jacinto (Junior) College in Texas earlier this week, while Edwards, after a successful senior season at Lakeland High School in Florida, will join the group in two weeks.
Junior Tall Blacks head coach Kenny McFadden likes what he has but knows the real work for his team is only just about to begin ahead of the July 2-12 tournament in Auckland.
"I feel pretty comfortable. I feel that we've got the best players," McFadden said.
"I'm very excited about what we're going to produce on court.
"We've got a lot of speed, a lot of aggressive defence. We're not a tall team, especially compared to other teams around the world.
"We're getting comfortable with the transition game and having more than one ball handler, being able to push the fast-break and make good decisions because in the past we have been guilty of too many turnovers."
The Junior Tall Blacks gather in Wellington on Wednesday for an intensive four-week residential programme, leading up to their departure for Auckland and their opening game of the tournament, against Argentina, on July 2.
