Tai Wynyard joining New Zealand for FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup

Kentucky Wildcats big man Tai Wynyard will once again suit up for his home country of New Zealand.

Wynyard was selected to represent the Kiwis at this year’s FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup. He was selected as one of 12 members of the Junior Tall Blacks for the 2017 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup, which will be held July 1-9 in Cairo.

The 6-10, 254-pound Wynyard previously played in the 2013 FIBA U16 Oceania Championship, the 2014 FIBA U18 Oceania Championship and the 2015 FIBA Oceania Championship. He was also named the most valuable player of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in 2015 after he led his team to the gold medal. He played again in the 3x3 World Cup in 2016.

There is a possibility Wynyard, who will be a redshirt sophomore next season at UK, could face his current college head coach and several other Wildcats. John Calipari will be the head coach of the 2017 USA Basketball Men’s U19 World Cup Team that will compete in Cairo, a team that figures to have several American Wildcats on the roster.

Wynyard just finished his second season at Kentucky. After enrolling midyear for the 2015-16 season and redshirting, he appeared in 15 games in 2016-17. He averaged 3.6 minutes a game and scored 11 points with 13 rebounds and three blocks.