Not far from the asphalt in Bethlehem, where he first discovered his love for basketball, Tall Blacks captain Mika Vukona will lead his team in Tauranga's first taste of the international circuit at ASB Arena.

The former Bethlehem Primary and College student will lead the NZ side against South Korea as part a three match series ahead of the upcoming World Championships in Spain this August.

Tall Blacks captain Mika Vukona. Photo: Facebook.

In an international first for Tauranga the two sides, ranked 19th and 33rd respectively, will contest the one-off international, in between matches at Wellington and Auckland.

The Tall Blacks are 1-0 up in the series after crushing the visitors 102-69 in Wellington last night, with Kirk Penney leading the way a 17 point haul.

Tauranga is somewhere 31-year-old Vukona has always harboured dreams of representing his country in, after arriving with his family from Fiji at age five.

'Mum and Dad still live in Bethlehem and it will bring back memories now they have got that stadium, back in the day we got coached on the asphalt [at Bethlehem College].

'As soon as a told them, they already knew, I guess news travels pretty quickly in Tauranga.”

Since 2000, Vukona has been an imposing figure on New Zealand basketball courts playing for the Nelson Giants – and brief stints for the Manawatu Jets and Harbour Heat – as well as being part of the New Zealand Breakers ANBL Championship three peat between 2011 and 2013.

This will be the Tall Blacks' first series in New Zealand since hosting Venezuela in 2007. Since then, the men's national team has played three games at home, all against Australia in 2008, 2009 and 2013.

Having never faced a South Korean side, Vukona is expecting a series of physical encounters but has the utmost confidence in leading a team brimming with talent.

He pays particular mention of the younger generation – Isaac Fotu, Rob Loe and Jack Salt.

'They are a tall side and they have great guards and great shooters. These guys are a professional outfit and we are really looking forward to playing them.”

Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic told Vukona it's the first time he is going to have to pick from 25 quality players.

'Which is going to make the job harder for him, but at the same time it's a great indication that basketball in New Zealand is on the rise, which is really exciting to see.”