Maric Begins Tryout for National Team

Nebraska center Aleks Maric began the first tryout camp Monday in an attempt to earn a roster spot for the Boomers, Australia’s senior national team that will play in the World Championships in Japan from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3. The tournament will be held in four cities across the country and FIBA has increased the number of participating teams from 16 to 24 this year because of increased level of basketball around the world and the rising number of competitive teams at the highest level.

Maric, who withdrew his name from the NBA early entry draft list last week, will compete this week with 33 other players looking to make the final Australian roster. The tryouts are being held in Canberra and this first round will run June 19-25, while the next round will be July 3-9 in Gosford.

Despite being one of the youngest players on the tryout roster, Maric is a familiar name in the Australian basketball landscape. He has played with several of the current Boomers and many of the younger players who also attended the Australian Institute for Sport, the training school where Maric played before coming to the United States a year before enrolling at Nebraska. Among the players vying for a roster spot, 15 have never played a game for the senior team, while seven have seen action in at least 70 career contests.

Maric is accustomed to the national team’s coaching style. He was a center for Boomers’ assistant coach Rob Beveridge, helping a New South Wales team to the silver and gold medals in his final two years, respectively, before competing at AIS.

"Right now my focus is getting into camp and doing everything I can to make the national team," Maric said. "This has always been a dream and is something I’ve worked to achieve for a long time."

The Boomers open play in Group C on Aug. 19 when they face Brazil in the opening-round match. Also grouped with the Australian team is Lithuania and Greece, which finished fourth and fifth, respectively, at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Australia earned a berth into the World Championships field by winning the Oceania zone, making Group C the only group with three zone winners, along with Brazil (1st in Americas) and Greece (1st in European).

After he finishes playing for his country, Maric will return to Nebraska for his junior season in 2006-07 with a chance to be one of the Big 12 Conference’s top interior players. An honorable-mention all-conference selection as a sophomore last year, Maric averaged 10.9 points and 8.1 rebounds while helping Nebraska to a 19-13 record and its second postseason appearance in three years. Maric set the Huskers’ single-game sophomore record by scoring 37 points at Iowa State ? the fifth-highest total in program history ? and ranked 11th in Nebraska single-season history with 251 rebounds, one short of the Huskers’ top-10 list.

The Big 12 Conference led all leagues in the nation with eight early entries into the NBA Draft. Maric and Colorado’s Richard Roby, a first-team all-conference selection as a sophomore last year, were the only two to withdraw from consideration before the June 18 deadline.

"I sent in my paperwork to officially withdraw from the NBA Draft," Maric said. "I am excited to return to Nebraska and look forward to getting back into action with my teammates after I try to make my national team and help it at the World Championships."

Maric has already won gold for his country as he helped the Under-20 squad to the world title in Greece in 2003 before picking up a fourth-place finish with the Under-21 national team last summer in Argentina. Maric ranked second in rebounding in the World Championships field last year, averaging 9.4 rebounds to go with 10.6 points per game at the championships.