CANBERRA (FIBA U17 World Championship) - Australia tipped off the preparations for the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship by starting their first training camp after announcing a provisional 17-man squad.

One of the leaders on the team will be Dejan Vasiljevic, who captained Australia to two victories over New Zealand last September to qualify for the U17 Worlds taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates this summer (8-16 August).

Vasiljevic, who idolizes the late Croatian scoring legend Drazen Petrovic, poured in 29 points with four three-pointers in Australia's 79-68 Game Two win over New Zealand to secure the spot in Dubai.

Vasiljevic scored 11 points in the Aussies' 79-56 win in Game One and tallied 18 in the meaningless 66-59 defeat in Game Three of the three-game series.

Vasiljevic holds a scholarship from the Centre of Excellence in Australia which also includes two of the other leaders of the U17 team - Abiola Akintola and Thomas Wilson.

Akintola averaged 11.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three games while Wilson scored 13 points in the first game.

The Australians, drawn into Group B with Japan, France and Canada, are holding a training camp at the Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence at the Australian Institute of Sports (AIS) from May 1-4. The team will depart in mid-May for a tour of games in China.

FIBA