Kentucky-based Tai Wynyard is ready to pull on the black singlet of his country again.

New Zealand's hopes of rattling a few hoops cages in their first appearance as a qualifier at the Fiba under-19 men's World Cup have received a boost with confirmation the US-based Tai Wynyard will line up.

In the wake of their shock, and historic, qualification at Australia's expense, Wynyard was always being sought for a return to the team he had been a mainstay for prior to his departure to play his college basketball at the University of Kentucky.

New Zealand coach Daryl Cartwright confirmed, via Fiba's website, that the 2.08m Wynyard, fresh off his freshman season with John Calipari's Wildcats, is putting his hat in the selection ring for the tournament in Cairo from July 1-9.

"We are pleased Tai is available for selection for the Junior Tall Blacks for the under-19 World Cup," Cartwright said. "Tai is always very proud to represent New Zealand, be it for the junior national sides or the Tall Blacks.

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The 19-year-old Aucklander was used only sparingly by Kentucky this past college hoops season (after red-shirting his first year there), but Cartwright is confident his game will be at an elite level after spending so much time training alongside such quality bigs as NBA draft prospects Bam Adebayo, Derek Willis and Isaac Humphries, as well as projected lottery picks De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk.

"He's in an environment with top-level coaches and guys who are basically on the one-and-done track to the NBA. His experience from that part will be valuable to us," Cartwright told Fiba.com.

"Tai is very proud to represent New Zealand. That's something that he's really big on."

Calipari also indicated at the end of Kentucky's season, when they were eliminated at the elite eight stage of the NCAA tournament by North Carolina (75-73), that Wynyard had emerged a "better player" from a tough season.

Calipari said on his podcast: "We went through things on the court. We went through things off the court. We went through things that he now knows to be successful he's going to have to do. I left that [exit] meeting feeling so good because Tai Wynyard's gotten better. He didn't have a lot of opportunities … but, man, has he gotten better."

New Zealand, without Wynyard, won their first under-18 Oceania crown in Fiji last December, beating Australia in the final and qualifying for the under-19 World Cup for the first time. Previously they participated as hosts of the global tournament in 2009.

But Cartwright said in the immediate aftermath that his duty as national coach was to take the strongest possible team to Cairo. That now looks certain to include Wynyard who has already played at senior level for the Tall Blacks.

"The wider squad all value the opportunity to represent their country at the World Cup and our final selection camp will be a very competitive environment as players look to push their cause," Cartwright added.