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Idaho basketball team headed in China; Josh Hawkinson to Australia

In this Dec. 22, 2015 file photo, Washington State forward Josh Hawkinson, front left, controls a rebound as Oklahoma forward Khadeem Lattin watches during the first half of the Diamond Head Classic. Hawkinson will play for the Pac-12 team this summer in Australia. (Eugene Tanner / Associated Press)
Jacob Thorpe
In this Dec. 22, 2015 file photo, Washington State forward Josh Hawkinson, front left, controls a rebound as Oklahoma forward Khadeem Lattin watches during the first half of the Diamond Head Classic. Hawkinson will play for the Pac-12 team this summer in Australia. (Eugene Tanner / Associated Press)

The Idaho Vandals, who should be one of the favorites for the Big Sky in men’s basketball next season, will get a head start on the 2016-17 season by heading to China to play against various national teams.

And the Vandals aren’t the only players from the Inland Northwest who will spend their summers overseas.

Washington State forward Josh Hawkinson will join the Pac-12 men’s basketball All-Star team as it travels to Australia in July for a series of exhibition games, including a pair of contests against the Australian National Team as it prepares for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

The Vandals will participate in the 2016 Atlas Challenge, which consists of seven national teams in addition to UI. Don Verlin’s team will take on Lithuania, Macedonia and Iran in the first round. The Vandals will leave Moscow, Idaho on June 10 and return on the 25th.

As for Hawkinson, this is the second time the Pac-12 has sent an All-Star team overseas, the first was in 2014 and included star WSU player DaVonté Lacy. The traveling team is a component of the Pac-12’s Global Initiative. The conference has also tried to build its overseas brand by scheduling games in China. Last year, Washington faced Texas and this year Stanford will take on Harvard.

Current Pac-12 broadcaster and four-time conference coach of the year Mike Montgomery will coach the team. Hawkinson and USC’s Jordan McLaughlin will be the most decorated players on the team, having each earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors after last season. Colorado’s Wesley Gordon was named honorable mention Pac-12 all-defensive team.

The team will train in Los Angeles from July 5-7 and then spend July 9-14 in Australia.