Colorado University Athletics
Gordon On Pac-12 All-Star Team Headed To Australia In July
May 31, 2016 | Men's Basketball
SAN FRANCISCO ? University of Colorado senior forward Wesley Gordon will play with a ?Pac-12 Conference Men's Basketball All-Star team for a series of cultural experiences and exhibition games in Melbourne, Australia in July.
As part of the Pac-12 Global initiative, 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” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said.
Gordon, a 2016 honorable mention selection to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team, topped Colorado in blocked shots (2.0 bpg) while ranking second in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and fifth in scoring (7.2 ppg) as a junior. He averaged a team-best 8.3 rebounds in conference play and his 65 offensive rebounds during that span topped the Pac-12.
On the overall Pac-12 charts Gordon was third in blocks, fourth in offensive rebounding (2.9 orpg), 10th in overall rebounds and 13th in defensive boards (4.7 drpg).
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 which featured Colorado's Xavier Johnson. That was followed by 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. Montgomery and his 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.
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.
2016 PAC-12 ALL-STAR MEN'S BASKETBALL ROSTER
| NAME | SCHOOL | POS. | HT. | WT. | YR. | HOMETOWN |
| Kadeem Allen | ARIZONA | G | 6-3 | 200 | Sr. | Wilmington, N.C. |
| Chance Comanche | ARIZONA | C | 6-11 | 205 | So. | Beverly Hills, Calif. |
| Tra Holder | ARIZONA STATE | G | 6-1 | 180 | Jr. | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Stephen Domingo* | CALIFORNIA | G | 6-7 | 217 | R-Sr. | San Francisco, Calif. |
| Wesley Gordon** | COLORADO | F | 6-9 | 220 | R-Sr. | Colorado Springs, Colo. |
| Drew Eubanks | OREGON STATE | F | 6-10 | 240 | So. | Troutdale, Ore. |
| Stephen Thompson Jr. | OREGON STATE | G | 6-4 | 170 | So. | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| Dorian Pickens*** | STANFORD | G/F | 6-5 | 215 | Jr. | Phoenix, Ariz. |
| Jordan McLaughlin**** | USC | G | 6-1 | 170 | Jr. | Etiwanda, Calif. |
| Lorenzo Bonam | UTAH | G | 6-4 | 189 | Jr. | Inkster, Mich. |
| Matisse Thybulle | WASHINGTON | F | 6-5 | 195 | So. | Issaquah, Wash. |
| Josh Hawkinson***** | WASHINGTON STATE | F | 6-10 | 232 | Sr. | Shoreline, Wash. |
* 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
2016 PAC-12 ALL-STAR BASKETBALL TOUR DAILY ITINERARY
DATE?????????????????????????? SCHEDULE
Tuesday, July 5???????????? Team arrives in Los Angeles
Wednesday, July 6??????? Practice in Los Angeles (time, location TBD)
Thursday, July 7??????????? A.M. Practice in Los Angeles (location TBD), P.M. departure for Melbourne
Saturday, July 9??????????? A.M. arrival in Melbourne, practice and sightseeing
Sunday, July 10???????????? Scrimmage vs. SEABL team (Hisense Arena, time TBD)
Monday, July 11??????????? Practice and sightseeing
Tuesday, July 12?????????? Game vs. Australia Men's National Team (Hisense Arena, time TBD)
Wednesday, July 13?????? Practice and sightseeing
Thursday, July 14????????? Game vs. Australia Men's National Team (Hisense Arena, time TBD)
Friday, July 15?????????????? Departure for Los Angeles
