A champion on Saturday night, and a Tall Black on Tuesday.
The Otago Nuggets guard followed his efforts in the NBL final with selection in the Tall Blacks yesterday for a whistlestop tour of Japan.
McCullough is one of 13 men named in an eclectic squad that will go into camp before a pair of friendly games in Atsugi leading up to the Tall Blacks’ World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
The Pero Cameron-coached squad has players from previous Tall Blacks campaigns this year, alongside a pair of pre-Covid veterans and a trio of newcomers.
McCullough has represented New Zealand in the 3x3 format but this will be his chance to make a debut for the Tall Blacks in regular hoops.
He joins the squad as a replacement for Taylor Britt, who was an initial selection but is unable to travel to Japan due to illness.
McCullough is joined by fellow new caps Carlin Davison, the 18-year-old sweet-shooting Taranaki forward, and Sam Dempster, who shone for the Nelson Giants this year.
Dempster (32) said he was “totally caught off-guard" by his selection.
“I wasn’t expecting it, to be honest.
"I got an email to say I’d been selected into the squad and then had a phone call from Pero — who is someone I grew up watching when I was young and have always looked up to — which was surreal. To get my name called was a real moment for me, very special, and it was cool to be able to tell my wife and kids about it."
Dempster, named NBL most improved player this season, had thought his chances of becoming a Tall Black had "come and gone’’.
“It’s always been a goal for mine to one day wear the black jersey, but in all honesty at the point of my career that I’m at, I had kind of thought I was past it.
"So it’s an honour and a privilege to be recognised this year for the effort I’ve put in, and I’m going to give it my all."
Benjamin Gold, Ethan Rusbatch, Taki Fahrensohn and Dion Prewster all played for the Tall Blacks in Manila in March, beating the Philippines and India (twice).
Prewster, Rusbatch and Fahrensohn were joined by Flynn Cameron and veterans Shea Ili and Jordan Ngatai for the rematch with the Philippines in Auckland, while Ngatai, Fahrensohn, Cameron and Hunt were part of the bronze medal-winning team in the Asia Cup in Jakarta.
The squad features a recalled Isaac Fotu, who played the most recent of his 65 games for the Tall Blacks in 2019.
After the Japan games, the Tall Blacks will announce a squad for World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia (August 25, in Dammam) and Jordan (August 29, in Auckland).
Tall Blacks
For Japan tour
Benjamin Gold, Carlin Davison, Dion Prewster, Ethan Rusbatch, Flynn Cameron, Isaac Fotu, Jordan Hunt, Jordan Ngatai, Nikau McCullough, Reuben Te Rangi, Sam Dempster, Shea Ili, Taki Fahrensohn
