Paul, Australia ready to take on the world

26 Jun 2026

Luke Paul is hoping to win first medal for Australia at the FIBA U17 World Cup since 2014s

By

nbl.com.au

Cairns Taipans Next Star Luke Paul, is ready to lead Australia on their quest for gold at the 2026 U17 FIBA World Cup in Turkey.

The teenage sensation is coming off a strong tournament in the 2025 U16 Asia Cup where he was named MVP and put an exclamation mark on his countries undefeated run with a 26 point, 10 rebound and nine assist game in the final against China.

Paul is listed as one of the top international prospects to watch in Istanbul and he is hoping to help bring success back to Australia at this tournament, where they last won a medal in 2014. That team consisted of names like Jack White, Dejan Vasiljevic and Isaac Humphries.

Australia share a group with the fifth-seeded Serbia, as well as Côte d'Ivoire and Venezuela.

The Crocs will be hoping to have a positive run through the early group stages to set up a crossover encounter with New Zealand, Slovenia, Puerto Rico or Turkey on Wednesday night.

Fans can watch all games live on the FIBA YouTube channel, with the action starting on Saturday night at 9:45pm when Australia takes on Serbia.

Luke Paul - Cairns Taipans, NBL
Riak Akhuar - Wyndham Basketball, WA
John Aryang - East Perth Eagles, NBL1 West
Ahmet Yahya Basaran - Centre of Excellence, NBL1 East
Antonio Browne - Centre of Excellence, NBL1 East
Lucas Byrne - Ballarat Miners, NBL1 South
Tom Dammers - Nunawading Spectres, NBL1 South
William Hamilton - Centre of Excellence, NBL1 East
Isaiah Jorgenson - Northside Wizards, NBL1 North
Alexander Mabbott - Nunawading Spectres
John McCann - Eltham Wildcats, NBL1 South
Andrew Watene - Logan Thunder, NBL1 North

Fixtures
Australia v Serbia - 9:45pm (AEST) Saturday, 27 June
Côte d'Ivoire v Australia - 7:30pm (AEST) Sunday, 28 June
Venezuela v Australia - 12:30am (AEST) Wednesday, 1 July
Round of 16 - Time and opponent TBC, Wednesday, 1 July