USC has been named as the only Queensland university in the inaugural national University Basketball League (UBL) tournament that will begin in late March.

As one of eight universities in the competition, USC will have both a men’s and a women’s team in the nine-round season.

USC Sport Manager Nathan Gordon said the hunt was now on for professionals to take on coaching roles, with trials for student athletes planned to begin in early February.

“The inclusion of USC in the national competition is a coup for both the University and regional student basketball athletes,” he said.

“Players will be supported by the USC High Performance Student Athlete Program and, further to that, the formation of the UBL will provide great opportunities for student engagement with work-integrated learning opportunities in various operational areas, including venue operations, marketing, team management, fan engagement, medical support and multimedia.”

USC will host three home games in its expanded USC Stadium during the competition, all of which will be live-streamed online.

The other universities in the UBL this year are La Trobe University (Melbourne), Murdoch University (Perth), The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, The University of Western Australia (Perth), University of Technology Sydney, and Victoria University (Melbourne).

USC is the home base for Rip City’s men’s and women’s teams in the Queensland Basketball League and the Southern Basketball League. The University also has strong links with the Brisbane Bullets and hosted pre-season NBL games at USC Stadium over the past two years.