The Skytrans Cairns Taipans officially welcomed a fresh batch of basketball talents earmarked for the National Basketball League (NBL) at the official launch of the CQUniversity Taipans Academy on Friday, November 23.

A landmark partnership between CQUniversity Australia and the Skytrans Cairns Taipans has seen the youth basketball development program return to the court after a two-year hiatus.

The official launch of the CQUniversity Taipans Academy. The two-year naming rights sponsorship agreement has already welcomed 14 recruits into its 2012/13 program.

Taipans CEO Mark Beecroft said the partnership with CQUniversity had allowed the club to re-establish a local professional pathway for junior basketballers.

"CQUniversity's support as the Academy's naming rights sponsor is the sole reason for its re-launch this season," Beecroft said.

"With CQUniversity on board, we now have the resources to deliver professional coaching and strength and conditioning support to our region's leading juniors," he said.

He said the CQUniversity Taipans Academy would provide education and development opportunities to players on and off the court.

"We want to develop and provide not only the on-court training to be an NBL player, but education opportunities off-court so our players have opportunities after their career," he said.

"We look forward to seeing many CQUniversity Taipans Academy graduates in the professional ranks in the near future," he said.

CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman said the partnership supported the University's philosophy of ‘giving back' to its communities.

CQUniversity Vice-Chancellor Professor Scott Bowman is looking forward to a two-year partnership with the Taipans Academy"As one of Australia's most inclusive universities, we want to even the playing field for people from all walks of life, so engaging in community sport is a natural fit for us," Professor Bowman said.  

CQUniversity will also be offering annual scholarships for Taipans Academy players to study at the Cairns Distance Education Study Centre, with funding allocated to meet study expenses such as textbooks, laptops, software, study-related travel and accommodation.

"Our sponsorship of the CQUniversity Taipans Academy aims to support local, home-grown talent and provide them with access to training opportunities to further their careers both on and off the court," Professor Bowman said.

"CQUniversity currently has around 350 distance education students already enrolled in the Cairns region, and a brand new distance education study centre, so it's only right we give back to the region through initiatives such as the CQUniversity Taipans Academy."

The Academy has produced such national basketball stars as 2012 Olympian Aron Baynes, NBA draftee Nathan Jawai and current Taipan Kerry Williams.  

• The CQUniversity Taipans Academy athlete intake comprises two tiers:
• Orange Group (1^st Tier): Matthew Adekponya; James Mitchell; Justin Soleimani; Matthew Andronicos; Shaun Bruce.
• Blue Group (2^nd Tier): Aaron Bintahal; Jason Osborne; Beau Hollingsworth; Daniel Majer; Matthew Jellatt; Billy Hopkins; Denzel Kennedy; Jaylan Bintahal; Aaron Farmer.

CQUniversity is Australia's most diverse university with around 20,000 students enrolled via distance education and located at campuses, support hubs and research centres stretching the length of the Queensland coast and in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Find out more at http://www.cqu.edu.au/