Wesley Gordon to travel with Pac-12 All-Stars

As part of a conference-wide initiative led by Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, a Pac-12 All-Star team featuring Wesley Gordon is set to visit Australia for competitive games, per cubuffs.com.

A series of two games will be played between them and the Australian national team as the former prepares for the 2016 Rio Olympics, which begins in August. Before those games commence, the Pac-12 representatives will play against one of sixteen teams from the semi-professional South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).

The trip to Australia is not the first of its kind. In an effort to spread the Pac-12 market beyond the traditional U.S. borders, Larry Scott & Co. have led the Pac-12 Global Initiative. This project has seen a 2014 conference All-Star team, featuring Colorado's Xavier Johnson, play overseas in China. In addition to sending the conference's second-tier stars finest, Pac-12 teams have played early season games in Shanghai and will continue to play in China in the coming years.

Gordon is joined on the team by eleven other countrymen representing nine of the conference's remaining eleven teams. Oregon and UCLA are not represented. Notable players on the team include Tra Holder of Arizona State, Jordan McLaughlin of USC and Josh Hawkinson of Washington State. The latter two were All-Conference honorable mentions.

Luckily for Gordon and the Buffs, the fifth-year senior is in-line to receive healthy playing time against established NBA players. If Gordon is to become the offensive force he wishes to be, this experience could prove fruitful.

Meanwhile, the Boomers appear to be using these two games to decide their final squad as they currently have seventeen candidates to fill twelves spots. Of those seventeen players, seven play in the NBA, including Andrew Bogut of Golden State, Matthew Dellavedova of Cleveland, Patty Mills of San Antonio, and the rehabilitating Dante Exum of Utah. Also of note is Brock Motum, a former Washington State star who will be facing familiar opponents, especially in former teammate Josh Hawkinson.

The games between the Pac-12 All-Stars and the Boomers will be held on July 12 and 14 in Melbourne at Hisense Arena, the home of Nate Tomlinson's Melbourne United. Unfortunately, it does not appear that the games will be televised, but hopefully that will change.