By JARROD POTTER
SOUTH EAST basketball sensation Elizabeth Cambage will finally return to Dandenong basketball courts – but not in the way we expected last year.
Cambage is set to return to her junior basketball home at Stud Road, this time in the Jayco Australian Opals’ uniform with the team to play a three-game series against Japan next week.
The series will provide a crucial lead-in to the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championships where the Opals will play New Zealand for automatic qualification to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
The Jayco Australian Opals will play against the Asian number-one World Championships seed Japan at Dandenong on 27 July, in Frankston on 29 July and finally Ballarat on 31 July.
Cambage has been sidelined since the eve of the 2014 FIBA World Championships when she ruptured her Achilles tendon. The 23-year-old will join the 16-strong squad with selections for the Oceanias on the line.
“It’s fantastic to have Liz back,” Jayco Opals coach Brendan Joyce said.
“We’ll ease her into it.
“It’s a bonus to have her available for the series against Japan, but the focus is to have her on court against New Zealand.”
The 16-woman squad also brings together a core group from the Opals’ tour of Europe in June with former and current Dandenong Rangers replete throughout the roster.
Another local set to don the green and gold will be Endeavour Hills’ rising star Aimie Clydesdale, who comes into the squad following her recent experience with the Emerging Opals at the World University Games.
It won’t be the only high calibre match coming to Dandenong Basketball Stadium this winter season as NBL side Melbourne United will host American college side Louisiana State University (LSU) on Thursday 20 August from 7pm.
