BRISBANE (Australia) - The first window of the FIBA Asia Cup 2021 Qualifiers was Angus Glover's first time playing for the Boomers. Though they didn't have the perfect start for the campaign in a loss to New Zealand, these two games meant a lot for Glover.

Not only because was it a senior national team debut for the 21-year-old, but because of what he has had to overcome to wear that Green and Gold jersey in front of the crowd at Nissan Arena.

Glover was quickly introduced to the game when his parents handed him a small basketball at the age of just nine months old. When he was only five years old, he was already playing in the Under-10 group competition. He made it to the Emus' U18 and U19 squads in 2015, and the future was looking bright for the Illawarra native.

In that same year, he tore the ACL in his right knee.

That didn't slow Glover down as he rehabbed and recovered his way back to being selected to play at the Nike Hoop Summit in 2017, playing for the World Select Team. There his name was alongside current NBA players RJ Barrett and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the roster of the team. Then, only four days before the marquee showdown of the event against the USA Select Team, Glover tore his ACL, this time in his left knee.

Glover went back to the gym. He put in the effort, and in November of that same year, Angus Glover suffered a re-tearing of the ACL in his left knee along with Meniscus damage. In a matter of eight months, Glover had to go through 2 knee reconstructions. At the age of just 19 years ago, he'd already had to go through the process three times.

But there he was on February 20, 2020, on the floor against New Zealand as a member of the Australia senior men's national team. His mother and father were in the stands that day, and they couldn't have been any prouder for what their son had accomplished.

As reported by Illawarra Mercury, his father Al even gave up a part of his hamstring as a part of Angus' knee reconstruction, which led to the senior Glover claiming to be a part Boomer himself.

Glover averaged 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in the first window of the Asia Cup Qualifiers, showing promise as an up-and-coming prospect for Australia basketball. It's easy to raise the "What If?" question in scenarios like Glover's, but the 1.93M (6'4") guard could care less. On the contrary, he even believes that those injuries might have made him stronger.

"I don't know if it's you're literally in the weight room 3, 4, 5 times a week, so your legs get ridiculously strong," Glover told Aussie Hoopla. "I think every time I've torn an ACL in my legs, I've gotten more stronger than previous times."

"As much as I don't wish anyone to go through it, I think the best thing about overcoming something like is that you can overcome adversity, I took my frustration out in the weight room, and I guess that makes me jump higher."

Glover was certainly jumping up high in the first window. He threw down a dunk twice in the matter of less than a minute towards the end of the first half against Hong Kong. He slammed another one home with less than two minutes towards the end of a 115-52 win. He finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

It was an impressive debut for young Glover. Considering the work ethic he has that has fuelled his way back to this point in his career following an injury after injury, it probably won't be the last we see of Glover playing in that proud Boomers jersey either.

FIBA