The Australian Under-19 men's team gets their FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup campaign underway this weekend with a blockbuster matchup against Team USA to open their group stage.
The Emus, who have not reached the quarter-finals of the tournament since 2015, have their sights set on winning the country's second-ever gold medal at the event — following in the footsteps of the famous Andrew Bogut-led squad from 2003.
Bogut carried the Emus to glory in Greece, winning tournament MVP with averages of 26.3 points, 17.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks, ahead of his freshman season at the University of Utah.
The former No.1 overall pick in the NBA Draft dominated the latter stages of the competition, leading the Aussies to a 97-84 victory over Croatia in the semi-finals, pouring in a record 39 points on 14-of-22 shooting and 11-of-13 free throws to go with 25 rebounds.
His 39 points were the record for most points scored in a semi-final, which still stands today.
The following game, which brought the Aussies the gold was much the same, with Bogut going off for 35 points and 14 rebounds in a 126-92 victory over Lithuania — which also set the record for the most points scored in a final and their record 34-point margin of victory the biggest in the history of the tournament.
MORE: Dash Daniels ready to lead Emus at FIBA U19 World Cup
Bogut, who went on to represent the Australian Boomers at two FIBA World Cups (Japan 2006 and China 2019) and three Olympic Games (Athens. 2004, Beijing 2008, and Rio 2016), says that despite the major tournaments he played in with the senior national team, his favourite memory in the green and gold is hard to beat.
"The Under-19 Emus, first-ever gold medal for Australia," Bogut told Sporting News Australia.
"Taking this pimple-faced group of guys over there, that a lot of other teams used to laugh at, [teams would say] 'Australia will play hard, but we'll beat them at the end of the game, they'll be physical but they just don't have the skill'."
"To go there and do what we did and the way we did it, and just absolutely demolish the semi-final and grand final and win a gold medal, I think was something I'll remember forever. That was a very special group."
That group included a host of iconic names in Australian basketball, headlined by Damian Martin, Brad Newley, Aleks Maric, and Aaron Bruce.
Twenty-two years on from that run, the Emus will be looking to replicate that effort, with a talented roster heading to the 2025 edition of the U19 World Cup, featuring highly-touted prospects Dash Daniels, Jacob Furphy, and Roman Siulepa.
The Emus' first game of the tournament against Team USA is set for Sunday, June 29 at 1:15 a.m. AEST on ESPN.
Australian Emus Roster 2025
| PLAYER | STATE |
| Emmett Adair | NSW |
| Che Brogan | VIC |
| Alex Dickeson | SA |
| Dash Daniels | NSW |
| Luke Fennell | VIC |
| Jacob Furphy | TAS |
| Mading Kuany | VIC |
| Ajak Nyuon | ACT |
| Roman Siulepa | QLD |
| Nash Walker | TAS |
| Jack Whitbourn | VIC |