For Joe Ingles, it’s the reality.

Ingles’ rise to basketball stardom stepped up a gear this week when the South Dragons rookie was named in the Boomers squad to contest the 2007 FIBA Oceania Qualifying Series.

Ingles’ selection in the team caps a remarkable debut season for the 19-year-old, in which he helped the Dragons to the playoffs and was named NBL Rookie of the Year.

Ingles joins Chris Anstey (Melbourne Tigers), Stephen Black (Brisbane Bullets), Andrew Bogut (Milwaukee Bucks), Sam Mackinnon (Brisbane Bullets), Darnell Mee (Cairns Taipans) and Brad Newley (Townsville Crocodiles) in the 17-man squad out to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games.

The Boomers must defeat trans-Tasman rivals the New Zealand Tall Blacks to guarantee a berth at Beijing.

“Only the world champions Spain and the host nation China are guaranteed a spot in Beijing, so I can confidently say that all the other nations are thinking like we are,” Boomers coach Brian Goorjian said this week.

“At this point, qualifying is the goal.”

Also making waves on the national stage is Jacob Holmes, who has been invited to attend a try-out and development camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in early June ahead of the Boomers’ tour of China.

A limited number of athletes from the camp will then be invited to attend a second Boomers camp on the Gold Coast in mid-July.

“The short term goal with the June camp is to find a hidden nugget and to introduce as many people as we can to the Boomer culture,” Goorjian said.

“The medium term goal is to get all the best players aboard and on one page.

“The goal at the end of all this is to have a team that is playing well and, as I said, to qualify against New Zealand.”

Sydney's Ian Crosswhite, West Sydney Razorbacks trio James Harvey, Julian Khazzouh and Liam Rush and a host of NBL and international stars will attend the 21-man camp.