Tra Holder, pair of Wildcats to join Pac-12 All-Star team in Australia
May 31, 2016, 1:44 PM
Arizona State guard Tra Holder, left, drives the lane for a basket as Colorado guard Dominique Collier defends in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
The Pac-12 will send an All-Star team, including three players from Arizona schools, to Melbourne to play Australia’s national basketball team, the conference announced Tuesday.
“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,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said in a press release.
The All-Star roster includes players from 10 member schools, including ASU’s Tra Holder and Arizona’s Kadeem Allen and Chance Comanche. The group, coached by Hall of Famer Mike Montgomery, will arrive in Melbourne on July 9. Their first game is slated for July 10.
The games against the Australian Men’s National Team will come ahead of their appearance in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. While down under, the Pac-12 team will also play a South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) team.
Holder’s invitation to the trip comes after the point guard led the Sun Devils in points per game (14.2), points (454), free throws made (125), and average minutes (31.8) last season. Meanwhile, point guard Kadeem Allen averaged 8.4 points per game and led the Wildcats in assists (121) and steals (35). Comanche played 23 games as a true freshman, scoring 43 points in 139 minutes.
The rest of the roster is as follows:
Kadeem Allen – G, Arizona – Sr.
Chance Comanche – C, Arizona – So.
Tra Holder – G, Arizona State – Jr.
Stephen Domingo – G, Cal – R-Sr.
Wesley Gordon – F, Colorado – R-Sr.
Drew Eubanks – F, Oregon State – So.
Stephen Thompson Jr. – G, Oregon State – So.
Dorian Pickens – G/F, Stanford – Jr.
Jordan McLaughlin – G, USC – Jr.
Lorenzo Bonam – G, Utah – Jr.
Matisse Thybulle – F, Washington – So.
Josh Hawkinson – F, Washington State – Sr.
The trip is part of an initiative by Pac-12 Global, which has previously sent an All-Star team in Shanghai in 2015, and will do so again this November.
