Dent earned his spot in the team after a standout showing at last weekend's Jr. NBA Global Championship Asia Pacific Selection Camp in Indonesia. The camp brought together the top junior basketballers from Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, with Dent the only Australian male to attend.

Coaches put the players through their paces in a range of drills before they contested a number of matches.

With the competition at the camp fierce, the 13-year-old said he was thrilled to be picked in the final team.

"There were a lot of great athletes over there," Dent said. "Training with a group of new boys and getting that cultural experience over in Indonesia, it was a really great experience.

"I was really excited to get picked, it's good to know everything's paying off. We've got a good team picked, so I think we can go over to the US and really compete with the other teams, it should be really fun."

Now that he has gained selection in the Asia Pacific team, Dent will travel to Orlando in early August to contest a tournament featuring the top eight teams from the US and eight international teams from around the world.

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The point guard is expecting the competition to be higher than he's experienced before, but he's looking forward to testing his skills at the elite level.

"It will be a big challenge. There will be a lot of better athletes and basketballers there, it will be good fun to see how we level up against them.

"I think we can go far. If we have our good days at the right time, we can definitely go pretty far. It will be interesting to see how we go.

"This tournament is a big opportunity, it really puts kids on the map globally and helps later on in life with whatever you're trying to do with your basketball. It's a good thing to have on your resume."

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