Located in Moraga, California, twenty miles east of San Francisco, St. Mary's College of California is as remote from Australia as any school in the United States can get. However, during NCAA basketball season, one can hear spectators chanting "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!" during games, making the casual observer believe that he or she might just as well be watching a Boomers game.

The St. Mary's Gaels men's basketball program has been a perennial contender for the West Coast Conference crown, usually trading spaces with Gonzaga, its rival in eastern Washington state. Part of of the program's success has been its extensive recruitment of overseas talent, particularly from the Australian Institute of Sport. In 2001, newly named head coach Randy Bennett recruited point guard Adam Caporn out of AIS, making Caporn a key piece in the Gaels' rebuilding, improving the team's record from 2-27 in 2000-01 to 19-12 in 2003-04.

The real Aussie breakthrough, though, came when point guard Patty Mills crossed the Pacific to sign a national letter of intent with the Gaels in 2006. While he was heavily pursued by Utah (where Australian NBA center Andrew Bogut played), Nebraska (which already had Aussie Aleks Maric), Wake Forest, and Alabama, Mills chose St. Mary's. It also helped that David Patrick, a family friend of the Millses, was hired by Bennett as an assistant coach.

With Mills in the roster, St. Mary's earned an at-large bid in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Even after Mills left for the NBA, the Gaels would make it in 2010, 2012, and 2013 behind guard Matthew Dellavedova's heady play. In fact, Australians would continue to contribute to the Gaels' cause; in 2011-12, five of 16 players came from Down Under; five were graduates of AIS.

The roster for 2013-14 includes three Aussies: centers Dane Pineau and Matt Hodgson and redshirt guard Emmett Naar. While the reins of the team after Dellavedova's graduation have been handed over to Filipino-American Stephen "Scuba" Holt, it is clear that the Down Under presence will continue to be felt in northern California. In fact, the student section at McKeon Pavillion already has the Southern Cross flag, making every home game a Boomer game as well.