Two Former #HLMBB Players of the Year Named to World Cup Training Camps
INDIANAPOLIS -- Two former Horizon League men's basketball players of the year were called into their respective national team camps in preparation for the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Ryan Broekhoff (Frankston, Victoria, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) is one of 17 players who will compete with the Australian Boomers, while former Butler standout Gordon Hayward (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) is in USA Basketball camp.
In addition, former Valparaiso standouts Shawn Huff (Helsinki, Finland/Makelanrinne) and Samuel Haanpää (Kerava, Finland/Cornerstone [Texas] Christian) will be in the camp for the Finland squad.
Broekhoff, the 2012 Horizon League Player of the Year, is back in Boomers camp one year after helping lead his country to the silver medal at the World University Games. Broekhoff will report for training in Canberra from July 23-29.
Broekhoff's selection to the pre-World Cup camp continues his campaign of representing Australia at the highest levels internationally. The Frankston native earned his senior international debut in the summer of 2012 and was among the 15 finalists for the 12-man Olympic squad that summer. He also has been a vital part of the Australian team at each of the last two World University Games, helping lead the Emerging Boomers to a silver medal last summer, Australia's first men's basketball medal at the WUG.
In his first professional season, Broekhoff appeared in 30 games for Besitkas of the Turkish League, averaging 6.2 points per game and finding a place in the team's starting lineup.
Hayward, who recently saw his 4-year, $63 million contract offer matched by the Utah Jazz, was originally named a member of the 2014-16 USA Men’s National Team on Jan. 23 after participating in the 2013 USA Basketball minicamp. In his fourth NBA season, Hayward recorded career best marks with 16.2 ppg and 5.1 rpg for the Jazz.
Over the course of four NBA seasons, Hayward is averaging 12.0 ppg., 3.4 rpg., 3.1 apg., 0.9 spg., while shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 31.4 percent from 3-point range.
In a twist, Hayward will be under the tutelage of USA Basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, whom Hayward competed against in the 2010 NCAA national championship while at Butler. That season, Hayward earned the Horizon League Player of the Year award after the Bulldogs went 18-0 in conference play.
Huff and Haanpää each spent one season in the Horizon League, helping guide Valparaiso into the conference as a senior and sophomore, respectively. In 2007-08, the duo was part of a five-man group that averaged at least 10.0 ppg for the Crusaders, with Huff leading the way with a 12.6 ppg average, knocking down 47.9-percent of his 3-point field goals. Haanpää posted 10.0 ppg while shooting 43.0-percent from 3-point range.
Playing for Ludwigsburg in Germany's top professional league, Huff averaged 10.1 ppg across 37 games. Haanpää spent the 2013-14 season with Coruna of the Spanish League, coming off the bench to post 6.4 ppg.
Both will be in Finnish camp, as the country earned a wild-card berth for the World Cup.
The 2014 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Cup, featuring a total of 24 national teams, is scheduled to be held Aug. 30-Sept. 14 in Spain.
