Arizona big man Keanu Pinder played for the Aussie Boomers’ U19 team in the 2013 FIBA World Championships.
One of his teammates was guard Emmett Naar, from Sydney, who now plays for Saint Mary’s.
Saturday, the two Aussies will face off for the first time, and they’re not the only ones. Seven SMC players hail from Australia.
“It’s pretty exciting. All that time back there, who would’ve thought we’d match up in the NCAA Tournament,” Naar said. “He’s a great guy. It was nice getting to know him, knowing people back then and seeing how far they’ve come.”
Naar didn’t have any particular stories to tell — “there are probably stories I shouldn’t tell,” he said, laughing — but did recall the bonding experience that U19 team had in China, expericing exotic cuisine and a sleeping arrangement that wasn’t ideal.
“A lot of snails at the buffet and some pretty rough sleeping arrangements,” Naar said. “That’s how you become tied together as a team, if you can get through an experience like that.”
Pinder “wasn’t adventurous at all” on the China trip, Naar said.
“Probably one of the guys that just went to McDonalds for most meals,” he said, “which was most of us, to be fair.”
