ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis sophomore Rob Loe has been selected to the New Zealand national team that will face Australia in three games at the FIBA Oceania Championship, Sept. 7, 9 and 11. The winner of the best-of-three series automatically qualifies for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
“Rob being selected to represent his country is a terrific honor,” SLU head coach Rick Majerus said. “He must now prove himself to be a worthy recipient. It is important for Rob to establish himself as having a rebounding presence. These games are very consequential because the winner of the series represents Oceania in the next Olympic games. If Rob is indeed slated to be a cornerstone of New Zealand’s Olympic development, that challenge begins now and it should be one that Rob is excited about undertaking.
“We have told all of our international players that we will cooperate with them in any way,” Majerus said. “We respect the quality of coaching and the commitment that the New Zealand basketball federation has to its players. At SLU, we are fortunate to be the beneficiaries of the New Zealand coaching staff’s expertise. Coach Nenad Vucinic is a proven winner and a fantastic teacher of the game. We know that Rob will be well coached.”
All three games will take place in Australia. The first game on Wednesday, Sept. 7, will be played in Melbourne. The series moves to Brisbane Friday, Sept. 9, and wraps up Sunday, Sept. 11, in Sydney. Loe departs St. Louis today for training camp in Auckland, New Zealand.
Loe is no stranger to international competition. He played in the 2009 FIBA Oceania Championship that determined the representative for the 2010 World Championship. Also in 2009, Loe led New Zealand in scoring at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in New Zealand. He was also selected to the World Select Team at the 2010 Nike Hoops Summit in Portland, Ore.
Loe, recently wrapped up a 10-day, five-game tour with the Billikens in Canada, averaged 6.7 ppg and 3.5 rpg a season ago while averaging 17.5 minutes per contest.
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