Former Launceston basketballer Gabe Hadley is in the Australian Emus team seeking to qualify for the under-19 world championships.
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Now representing Victoria Metro, the 18-year-old is the sole Tasmanian in the team of 12 competing at the FIBA Oceania Championships in Fiji, from where the winning team will book their place at the world titles in Egypt next July.
Hadley began playing the sport in under-age teams in the North-West Basketball Union, continuing at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Devonport and Grade 7 at St Brendan-Shaw College before moving to Scotch Oakburn College midway through Year 8.
A former Tasmanian Institute of Sport scholarship holder, he played for Devils Black in the Launceston Senior Basketball League and attended camps offering insights into the elite NBA system in Taipei and California.
Speaking to The Examiner in 2014, Hadley said: “You can do it from Tasmania if you do all the hard work and put in.”