Latest Taipan ready to represent Australia

As the Boomers prepare for their first game of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup, Cairns’ latest recruit is suiting up to lead the young squad in Saudi Arabia.

Donning the green and gold for the first time since representing Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Jack McVeigh will be looking to play a key role in the side after leading the scoring in their preparation game against the University of Colorado with 20 points.

Not only putting points on the board, the forward was also a crucial piece in the coordination of their offence with seven assists to his name – a game leading stat.

Playing the college side on Thursday night, the national team has since flown into Saudi Arabia for their first matchup against South Korea.

They’ll face their fellow Group A team at 6:00pm tonight, before turning their attention to Lebanon and Qatar across the weekend in their quest to win a third straight Asia Cup for Australia.

Prior to his time in Paris, McVeigh had previously only appeared for the Boomers at the World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

Hitting the court for three minutes at the 2019 iteration of the event, he returned in 2023 to average 10 points, 2.3 rebounds, an assist and a steal across 17 minutes per game, with Australia going undefeated across the matchups.

However, following his 2024 NBL Grand Finals MVP performance, the forward earned a callup to the international stage ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Demonstrating his sharpshooting abilities, McVeigh hit three triples across three of his games to be ranked ninth in the tournament for made shots from range per appearance, whilst making 52.6% of his shots across Australia’s four games.

One year later, and he is preparing to return for his second international tournament for Australia, and this time as one of the more experienced names. 

McVeigh will line up alongside fellow NBL players Ben Henshall, Dash Daniels, Davo Hickey, Jaylin Galloway, Josh Bannan, Owen Foxwell, Will Magnay and Xavier Cooks, with Magnay being the only other member of the Olympic lineup to be named for the Asia Cup.

Reuniting with Jack White after their time together for the Atlanta Hawks (the duo also played together at the 2015 U19 FIBA World Cup) the side also boasts notable Australian college names Harry Wessels and Reyne Smith.

Tune into the action tonight at 6:00pm AEST when the Boomers hit the court, with the matchup with South Korea available via ESPN, Kayo and Disney+.

They’ll return to action at 1:00am AEST on Saturday morning to face Lebanon, and at 6:00pm AEST on Sunday night against Qatar in their final group stage game.