LINCOLN – Nebraska’s Rienk Mast will look to help the Netherlands advance in the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifying Tournament this week in Istanbul, Turkey.
Mast, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward has been in training camp with the Netherlands since mid-July preparing for this qualifier. He will be making his second senior National Team appearance and first since 2019. Mast played in the 2019 Basketball World Cup qualifier averaging 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game in three contests. He also played for the Netherlands at the U18 and U16 levels earlier in his career.
The teams in the Netherlands pool in Istanbul include Sweden (Aug. 13. 4:30 a.m. central), Belgium (Aug. 14, 9 a.m. central) and Croatia (Aug. 16, 9 a.m. central). The participating teams will compete across two groups, with the top two from each pool advancing to the semifinals which will be played on Friday, August 18. The final is on Sunday, Aug. 20. All games will be streamed live on FIBA’s subscription streaming site (https://www.courtside1891.basketball).
If the Netherlands wins the Pre-Qualifying Tournament, they qualify for one of next year’s FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, with the winners of those clinching spots in Paris Olympics next summer.
Last year at Bradley, Mast earned first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors, leading the school in scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) while shooting 51 percent from the floor and 35 percent from 3-point range. He ranked second in the MVC in rebounding, fourth in field goal percentage and 11th in scoring, as he finished third in voting for MVC Player of the Year. Mast totaled nine double-doubles, including 14 points and 12 rebounds in Bradley’s NIT loss to Wisconsin. He had a career-high 30-point effort against Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament.
Mast is one of two current Huskers representing their national teams this summer. Keisei Tominaga is in camp with the Japanese National Team for the FIBA World Cup which begins on Aug. 25.