King, Andrew poised to debut for Tall Blacks in Asia Cup

A member of Otago basketball’s royal family and a son of St Kevin’s College have been named in the Tall Blacks squad for the Asia Cup.

Both rising guard Mojave King and former Otago Nuggets centre Jack Andrew will be on debut when New Zealand play at the tournament in Jeddah next month.

They will be joined by fellow newcomer Dontae Russo-Nance, who played for the Nuggets last year but is now with the Manawatu Jets.

The selection of Dunedin-born King, in particular, in the 11-man Asia Cup squad is a significant moment for New Zealand hoops.

King, 23, the son of Nuggets great Leonard King and former Otago basketballer Tracey Paul, and grandson of late Otago hoops stalwart John Paul, has spent more of his life in Australia but he has declared his hand for the land of his birth.

He became just the third New Zealander drafted into the NBA when he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 47th overall pick in the 2023 draft, and his rights are now with the New Orleans Pelicans.

King, who plays for the Tauranga Whai in the NBL, has impressed Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell.

"We always knew that Mojave was very talented," Flavell said.

"When you look at the Tall Blacks in the past, we’ve had to have a guy that can score, shoot the ball and get hot. And we know Mojave can put on 10-12 points in a short period of time."

King averaged 8.5 points for the Breakers in the Australian league last season.

He then averaged 22.2 points for the Whai, shooting at a decent 38% clip from three-point range.

"His role for us is going to be scoring," Flavell said.

"Mojave has that unique skillset that I think past Tall Black teams have really leaned on to carry some of that scoring load."

There will be whoops of joy around the halls of an Oamaru school at Andrew’s debut selection.

Andrew, 24, was a stand-out at St Kevin’s before playing 80 games for the Nuggets — helping them win the NBL championship in 2022 — and having two spells with the Perth Wildcats.

He flourished when he moved to the Taranaki Airs this year, posting 13.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game .

"Jack has had a phenomenal jump this season," Flavell said.

"He just really seemed to grow in confidence as well. For a big man to actually run and have a high activity rate — that’s something that we really like about him.

"He’s been the first man down the floor, he’s been active on the glass, and he’s had great success in tandem with Carlin (Davison) off the pick and roll. I think those two have been one of the most dynamic duos."

Leading Tall Blacks including Shea Ili, Tai Webster, Hyrum Harris and Yanni Wetzell are unavailable for the Asia Cup, leaving Jordan Ngatai (84 caps) and Tohi Smith-Milner (69) as the senior men.

New Zealand are in group D with Chinese Taipei, the Philippines, and Iraq.

Before the tournament, they have three games in China at the Solidarity Cup and Four Nations tournaments, for which they will also have New Zealand under-19 star Hayden Jones, Jordan Hunt and Luca Yates on the roster. One of those three players will become the 12th and final member of the Asia Cup squad.

Tall Blacks

Asia Cup squad

Jack Andrew, Taylor Britt, Flynn Cameron, Max Darling, Carlin Davison, Ben Gold, Mojave King, Taine Murray, Jordan Ngatai, Dontae Russo-Nance, Tohi Smith-Milner

Gold has been selected for Asia Cup only.  Jordan Hunt, Hayden Jones and Luca Yates will join squad for preceding Solidarity Cup and Four Nations.