2024 Paris Olympics Men’s Basketball: Kentucky leads colleges with seven former players on rosters

While the United States men’s basketball roster at the 2024 Olympics is populated by NBA superstars with widely recognized names, the rosters of other nations include plenty of players that are a bit more anonymous. However, many of them are former Division I college basketball players who are now representing their home or adopted countries on the international stage.

Canada’s roster is comprised entirely of former American college players, and South Sudan’s squad is also comprised almost entirely of ex-NCAA basketball players. Ten of the 12 nations competing have players who spent time playing Division I NCAA basketball. 

Two players will actually be suiting up in the college ranks during the 2024-25 season. Hulking center Khaman Maluach of South Sudan will be a freshman at Duke, while forward Akira Jacobs of Japan will be a sophomore at Hawaii.

Roughly 50 colleges are represented on the Olympic rosters. Some of the players were short-lived reserves at mid-major schools while others were All-American superstars who have gone on to play in the NBA. Many fall in between as solid college players who continued their careers as overseas professionals.

Schools with multiple players on Oympic rosters

Kentucky	7
Iowa State	5
Gonzaga	4
Duke	3
Saint Mary’s	3
LSU	2
Michigan	2
Nebraska	2
Stanford	2

Here is a comprehensive guide for basketball fans interested in learning the backgrounds of those comprising the 2024 Olympic rosters. Only players who played at four-year schools are included.

Australia

Patty Mills — Saint Mary’s
Mills finished second in the WCC in scoring during his sophomore season in 2008-09 with 18.4 points per game before departing and becoming a second round NBA Draft pick. The 6-foot guard was a two-time all-conference performer and the league’s Rookie of the Year as a freshman.

Josh Green — Arizona
Green started 30 games in the 2019-20 season at Arizona after ranking as a five-star prospect in the Class of 2019. The 6-6 guard averaged 12 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the Wildcats before being selected with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Matthew Dellavedova — Saint Mary’s
Dellavedova started 132 games from 2009-13 and averaged double figures all four of his seasons with the Gaels. He is still the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,933 points. The 6-4 guard earned WCC Player of the Year in the 2011-12 season and was a three-time all-conference performer.

Jock Landale — Saint Mary’s
Landale developed from a role player into a star during four years at Saint Mary’s from 2014-18. He capped his career by earning WCC Player of the Year honors while averaging 21.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. 

Nick Kay — Metro State (Division II)
Kay started 114 games over his four-year stint at Division II Metro State. As a senior in the 2014-15 season, he averaged 20.4 points and 7.7 rebounds for a team that finished 26-6.

Jack McVeigh — Nebraska
McVeigh played three seasons at Nebraska, appearing in 78 games with 15 starts. His best season came in 2016-17, when he averaged 7.5 points per game as a sophomore.

Will Magnay — Tulsa 
Magnay averaged 14 minutes per game in 32 appearances during his lone college season at Tulsa in 2016-17 before beginning his professional career. The 6-10 forward averaged 3.9 points and three rebounds for the Golden Hurricane.

Duop Reath — LSU
Reath played in the JUCO ranks at Lee College in Texas before transferring to LSU for his last two seasons. The 6-10 forward started 58 games over his two seasons with the Tigers, averaging 12 points per game in the 2016-17 season and 12.5 in the 2017-18 season.

Didn’t play college basketball: Dante Exum, Joe Ingles, Dyson Daniels, Josh Giddey

Canada

Nickeil Alexander-Walker — Virginia Tech
Alexander-Walker earned all-ACC honors as a sophomore while averaging 16.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, four assists and 1.9 steals per game. He parlayed that success into being the No. 17 overall draft pick in 2019.

RJ Barrett — Duke
Barrett averaged 22.6 points in his one-and-done season at Duke in 2018-19. He was named an All-American and helped lead the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight while sharing the spotlight with fellow freshman stars Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones.

Khem Birch — UNLV
Birch transferred from Pitt to UNLV, where he averaged 11.5 points per game in the 2013-14 season. The 6-9 forward also pulled down 10.2 rebounds per game and averaged 3.8 blocks while winning Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year for a second straight season.

Dillon Brooks — Oregon
Brooks started 98 games over his three seasons at Oregon and earned second-team All-American honors during his final season in 2016-17. He led the Ducks in scoring that year as they made their first Final Four appearance in the NCAA Tournament’s modern era.

Luguentz Dort — Arizona State
Dort led Arizona State in scoring during his lone season with the program in 2018-19. The 6-4 guard won Pac-12 Rookie of the Year while averaging 16.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals. The Sun Devils finished 23-11 with a first-round NCAA Tournament exit before Dort went undrafted.

Melvin Ejim — Iowa State
Ejim capped a four-year run at Iowa State by winning Big 12 Player of the Year in 2013-14 under coach Fred Hoiberg. The Cyclones reached the Sweet 16 with Ejim as their star. The 6-6 forward averaged 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — Kentucky
Gilgeous-Alexander was part of an electric freshman class at Kentucky in the 2017-18 season. He finished second on the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game and led the Wildcats in assists (5.1 per game) and steals (1.6) per game while shooting 40.4% from 3-point range. He was named SEC Tournament MVP and was taken with the No. 11 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Trey Lyles — Kentucky
Lyles played a key role on the 2014-15 Kentucky team that finished 38-1 with a loss to Wisconsin in the Final Four. The 6-10 forward averaged 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds while sharing a roster with stars such as Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Jamal Murray — Kentucky
Murray finished third in the SEC in scoring at 20 points per game as a one-and-done freshman in the 2015-16 season. The 6-5 guard hit 40.8% of his 3-pointers on 7.7 attempts per game for the Wildcats before the Nuggets took him with the No. 7 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. 

Andrew Nembhard — Gonzaga
Nembhard transferred from Florida to Gonzaga after his sophomore season and played a key role on teams that combined to go 59-5. The 2020-21 Zags finished 31-1 and played in the national title game. The 2021-22 Zags reached the Sweet 16 with Nembhard leading the WCC in assists at 5.8 per game. 

Kelly Olynyk — Gonzaga
Olynyk came off the bench for his first two seasons at Gonzaga. But in his third and final season with the program in 2012-13, he exploded and won WCC Player of the Year while averaging 17.8 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

Dwight Powell — Stanford
Powell started 105 games over four years at Stanford from 2010-14. He made the Pac-12 all-freshman team, won the league’s Most Improved Player award and received all-conference honors twice during his career. Powell was a key force in Stanford’s last NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2014 season as the Cardinal reached the Sweet 16.

Greece 

Konstantinos Mitoglou — Wake Forest
Mitoglou played three seasons at Wake Forest from 2014-17, starting 75 games and stretching the floor as a 6-10 forward. He averaged 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game over his career and knocked down 34.7% of his 3-pointers.

Thomas Walkup — Stephen F. Austin
Walkup won Southland Player of the Year in both 2015 and 2016 to cap his four-year career. The 6-4 guard was part of three NCAA Tournament teams with the Lumberjacks, with the last two coming under coach Brad Underwood. He scored 33 points in a first-round victory over West Virginia in the 2016 Big Dance.

Nick Calathes — Florida
Calathes shined for two seasons under Billy Donovan, earning all-SEC honors as both a freshman and sophomore. He averaged 17.2 points and 6.4 assists per game in the 2008-09 before embarking on a professional career. 

Nikos Chougkaz – Northwestern State
Chougkaz played one season of college basketball, averaging 9.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in the 2019-20 season. The 6-10 forward started 23 games for the Demons and was their second-leading rebounder.

Didn’t play college basketball: Kostas Papanikolaou, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Georgios Papagiannis, Vassilis Charalampopoulos, Dimitris Moraitis, Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, Vasilis Toliopoulos

Spain

Lorenzo Brown — NC State 
Brown logged 95 starts over three seasons at NC State and led the ACC in assists at 7.2 per game in the 2012-13 season. He departed as a two-time all-conference honoree and with back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances on his resume.

Santi Aldama — Loyola (Maryland)
Aldama broke out as a sophomore, averaging 21.2 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in the 2020-21 season. He earned all-Patriot League honors while shooting 51.3% from the floor.

Didn’t play college basketball: Dario Brizuela, Alberto Diaz, Juancho Hernangomez, WIlly Hernangomez, Usman Garuba,  Alex Abrines, Sergio Llull, Jaime Pradilla, Rudy Fernandez, Xabier Lopez-Arostegui

Brazil

Didn’t play college basketball: Marcelinho Huertas, Yago dos Santos, Raul Neto, Georginho de Paula, Vitor Benite, Leo Meindl, Gui Santos, Didi Louzada, Bruno Caboclo, Joao Cardoso, Lucas Dias, Cristiano Felicio

France

Didn’t play college basketball: Frank Ntilikina, Nicolas Batum, Andrew Albicy, Guerschon Yabusele, Isaia Cordinier, Evan Fournier, Nando de Colo, Mathias Lessort, Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, Matthew Strazel, Bilal Coulibaly

Germany

Oscar da Silva — Stanford
Da Silva earned all-conference honors twice during his four-year career, which spanned 2017-21. The 6-9 forward averaged 18.5 points and 6.7 rebounds while shooting 56.9% from the floor as a senior.

Maodo Lo — Columbia
Lo earned All-Ivy League honors three times during his four years at Columbia. The 6-3 guard led the Lions in scoring his final two seasons while playing for Kyle Smith, who is now the head coach at Stanford.

Niels Giffey — UConn
Giffey won two national titles at UConn, first as a freshman in 2011 under Jim Calhoun and then as a senior in 2014 under Kevin Ollie. The 6-7 wing appeared in 139 games and averaged a career-best 8.4 points per game as a senior while the Huskies made a legendary March Madness run as a No. 7 seed.

Nick Weiler-Babb — Iowa State
Weiler-Babb started his career at Arkansas as a reserve in the 2014-15 season before spending the next four years at Iowa State. He developed into a full-time starter for the Cyclones over his final two seasons and was a key piece of a 2019 NCAA Tournament team.

Franz Wagner — Michigan
Wagner stacked two impressive seasons at Michigan, earning Big Ten all-freshman honors in 2019-20 and all-conference honors in 2020-21 for a squad that reached the Elite Eight. The 6-9 forward averaged 12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game as a sophomore before he was selected No. 8 overall.

Moritz Wagner — Michigan
Wagner led Michigan in scoring as a junior in 2017-18 as the Wolverines reached the national title game under John Beilein. The 6-10 forward averaged 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 52.8% from the floor before he was taken No. 25 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.

Didn’t play college basketball: Dennis Schroder, Johannes Thiemann, Andreas Obst, Isaac Bonga, Johannes Voigtmann,  Daniel Theis

Japan

Akira Jacobs — Hawaii
Jacobs averaged 2.4 points per game as a reserve forward in his freshman season at Hawaii. His role should increase as a sophomore in the 2024-25 season, especially after gaining valuable experience on the international stage against elite competition. 

Kai Toews — UNC Wilmington
Toews played two seasons at UNC Wilmington, starting 44 games and averaging 7.9 points during his career. The 6-2 guard led the CAA in assists at 7.7 per game as a freshman in the 2018-19 season and made the conference’s all-freshman team.

Rui Hachimura — Gonzaga
Hachimura came off the bench for his first two seasons at Gonzaga before exploding as a junior and winning WCC Player of the Year honors in the 2018-19 season. The 6-8 forward averaged 19.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists and was taken with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

Yuta Watanabe — George Washington
Watanabe played four seasons at George Washington from 2014-18 and was one of the A-10’s top stars as a senior. He averaged 16.3 points and 6.1 rebounds while earning all-conference honors and was also named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.

Josh Hawkinson — Washington State
Hawkinson averaged a double-double during his final three seasons at Washington State and capped his four-year career with the Cougars by earning all-Pac-12 honors in the 2016-17 season. The 6-10 big man also stretched the floor, shooting 40.6% from beyond the arc as a senior.

Keisei Tominaga — Nebraska
Tominaga evolved into a star during his final two seasons at Nebraska after beginning his career in the JUCO ranks. The charismatic guard led the Cornhuskers in scoring at 15.1 points per game in the 2023-24 season as the program made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.

Hugh Watanabe — UC Davis
Watanabe played two seasons at Portland from 2018-20 before transferring to UC-Davis, where he appeared in only two games. The 6-10 forward’s most substantive college action came in 2018-19 with the Pilots, when he averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Didn’t play college basketball: Hirotaka Yoshii, Yuki Kawamura, Makoto Hiejima, Yudai Baba, Yuki Togashi

Puerto Rico

Isaiah Pineiro — San Diego
Pineiro began his career at Portland State before transferring to San Diego and shining for the Toreros. He was a two-time all-WCC performer, capped by a senior season in which he averaged 18.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

George Conditt IV — Iowa State
Conditt made his mark as a rim protector during four years at Iowa State. The 6-10 big man also made 66.3% of his shots from the field as a senior in the 2021-22 season while averaging 4.9 points in 18.5 minutes per game.

Jordan Howard — Central Arkansas
Howard ranked third nationally in points per game behind Kendrick Nunn and Trae Young during the 2017-18 season while averaging 25.1 points as a senior. The 5-11 guard ended his Central Arkansas career as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 2,524 points.

Davon Reed — Miami
Reed appeared in 131 games, logging 99 starts under coach Jim Larranaga from 2013-17 at Miami. As a senior, he averaged 14.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while drilling 39.7% of his 3-pointers for an NCAA Tournament team. The performance earned him all-conference honors.

Jose Alvarado — Georgia Tech
Alvarado was a four-year star under Josh Pastner at Georgia Tech from 2017-21. He earned all-conference honors twice and was MVP of the 2021 ACC Tournament as the Yellow Jackets captured their first conference tournament title in nearly three decades.

Stevie Thompson — Oregon State
Thompson averaged double figures during all four of his seasons at Oregon State from 2015-19. The 6-4 guard capped his career with all-Pac-12 honors as he averaged 16.1 points per game in his senior season.

Aleem Ford — Wisconsin
Ford logged 126 appearances over a four-year career at Wisconsin from 2017 to 2021. The 6-8 forward averaged a career-best 8.7 points per game as a senior while starting all 31 games for an NCAA Tournament team.

Gian Clavell — Colorado State 
Clavell played his final three seasons for Colorado State after beginning his college career at Northwest Kansas Technical College. The 6-4 guard earned Mountain West Player of the Year honors in the 2016-17 season while averaging 20.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and two steals for the Rams.

Christopher Ortiz — Kent State
Ortiz played four seasons at Kent State, topping out at 7.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a senior in the 2015-16 season. The 6-8 forward logged 48 starts and 122 appearances for the Golden Flashes.

Arnaldo Toro — St. John’s
Toro spent four seasons at George Washington before wrapping his career at St. John’s in the 2020-21 season. The 6-8 forward logged 65 starts during his college career and reached double figures 25 times.

Tremont Waters — LSU
Waters was the star of LSU’s SEC title team in 2018-19, leading the team in points (15.3), assists (5.8) and steals (2.9) per game. The undersized guard was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year and helped lead the Tigers to the Sweet 16.

Didn’t play college basketball: Ismael Romero 

Serbia

Uros Plavsic — Tennessee
Plavsic played the role of paint enforcer for Tennessee from 2019-23 under Rick Barnes. The 7-footer averaged 4.9 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 63.6% from the floor in his final season as the Volunteers reached the Sweet 16. 

Filip Petrusev — Gonzaga
Like so many Gonzaga stars over the years, Petrusev played a reserve role before emerging as a star. As a sophomore in the 2019-20 season, he was WCC Player of the Year while averaging 17.5 points and 7.9 rebounds.

Didn’t play college basketball: Nikola Jokic, Vasilije Micic, Marko Guduric, Dejan Davidovac, Alesa Avramovic, Nikola Milutinov, Nikola Jovic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Vanja Marinkovic, Ognjen Dobric

South Sudan

Bul Kuol – Detroit Mercy
Kuol began his career at California Baptist and finished it at Detroit Mercy in the 2020-21 season. The 6-7 forward averaged 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game for the Titans while hitting 41.5% of his 3-pointers

JT Thor – Auburn
Thor started 27 games in his one season at Auburn in 2020-21, averaging 9.1 points, five rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. The 6-10 forward reached double figures 15 times.

Nuni Omot — Baylor
Omot spent two seasons at Baylor after a stint at Indian Hills Community College. The 6-9 stretch forward averaged 9.9 points in 2017-18 during his second season with the Bears before going undrafted and embarking on a professional career that has taken him through the G League and overseas.

Carlik Jones — Louisville
Jones spent his final season at Louisville in 2020-21 after three standout seasons at Radford. The 6-1 guard averaged 16.8 points and 4.5 assists for the Cardinals, landing a spot on the all-ACC team.

Khaman Maluach — Duke
Maluach, 17, will be a freshman at Duke this season after reclassifying into the Class of 2024 and ranking as the No. 4 overall prospect, per 247Sports. He’s expected to play significant minutes for the Blue Devils. The 7-1 center may even start for coach Jon Scheyer.

Kuany Kuany — VCU
Kuany just concluded his college career this past season at VCU after four seasons at Cal. The 6-9 forward averaged 5.7 points and 2.4 rebounds while starting 37 games for the Rams, who finished 24-14 (11-7 A-10).

Marial Shayok — Iowa State 
Shayok played three seasons at Virginia before transferring to Iowa State and earning all-Big 12 honors in the 2018-19 season. The 6-6 guard hit 38.6% of his 3-pointers in his final season while finishing second in the league in scoring at 18.7 points per game.

Majok Deng — Louisiana-Monroe
Deng earned all-Sun Belt honors during his two seasons playing for the Warhawks after beginning his career at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. The 6-10 forward finished third in the Sun Belt in scoring at 18.4 points per game during his final season.

Peter Jok — Iowa
Jok developed into an all-conference performer over his four-year run at Iowa from 2013-17. He led the Big Ten in scoring as a senior at 19.9 points per game on 38% 3-point shooting.

Koch Bar — Bradley
Bar logged 97 starts over four years at Bradley from 2016-20. The 6-11 center averaged 6.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game as a senior as the Braves finished 23-11.

Wenyen Gabriel — Kentucky
Gabriel played two seasons for Kentucky and flashed his range as a sophomore, when he drilled 39.6% of his 3-pointers as a stretch forward. He also contributed 5.4 rebounds before going undrafted after his second college season. 

Sunday Dech — Barry (Division II)
Dech averaged 13.3 points and seven rebounds while shooting 36.9% from 3-point range in his lone season at Barry in 2017-18. That Barry team beat Auburn 100-95 in an exhibition game and reached the Elite Eight of the Division II NCAA Tournament.

Didn’t play college basketball: Jackson Makoi

United States

Stephen Curry — Davidson 
Curry enjoyed a storied three-year career at Davidson, shooting 41.2% from 3-point range and leading the Wildcats to the 2008 Elite Eight. Even without using his final season, Curry amassed 2,635 points, which is a program record.

Anthony Edwards — Georgia
Edwards’ lone college season was rather forgettable as he toiled mostly outside the national spotlight for a 16-16 (5-13 SEC) Georgia team in 2019-20. Still, the five-star freshman averaged 19.1 points and 5.2 rebounds and was named SEC Rookie of the Year.

Kevin Durant — Texas
Durant turned in a legendary one-and-done season at Texas in the 2006-07 season, averaging 25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. He earned multiple national player of the year awards and reached 30 or more points 11 times.

Derrick White — Colorado
White played three seasons at Division II University of Colorado-Colorado Springs before using his final season of eligibility at Colorado in 2016-17. The 6-5 guard averaged 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 39.6% from 3-point range in his lone year with the Buffaloes.

Tyrese Haliburton — Iowa State
After ranking as a three-star prospect in the Class of 2018, Haliburton exceeded expectations in his two years with the Cyclones. As a sophomore in the 2019-20 season, he averaged 15.2 points, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 41.9% from 3-point range. He earned all-conference honors and was taken No. 12 in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Jayson Tatum — Duke
Before he was a star player for the NBA champion Boston Celtics, Tatum was a one-and-done freshman at Duke in the 2016-17 season. He averaged 16.8 points and 7.3 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Joel Embiid — Kansas
Embiid averaged 11.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in his one-and-done season at Kansas in 2013-14. The 7-footer was the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year as he finished second in the conference in blocks. He was taken with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

Jrue Holiday — UCLA
Holiday averaged 8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals per game while starting all 35 games in his lone season at UCLA in 2008-09. He earned Pac-12 all-freshman honors before he was selected with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

Bam Adebayo — Kentucky
Adebayo earned all-SEC honors in his one-and-done campaign with the Wildcats in 2016-17. The athletic big man averaged 13 points, eight rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game while starting all 38 games for a UK team that finished 32-6 and reached the Elite Eight.

Anthony Davis — Kentucky
Davis was the star of John Calipari’s lone national title team at Kentucky in the 2011-12 season. He dominated at an unprecedented level on the defensive end, averaging a whopping 4.7 blocks per game while also contributing 14.2 points and 10.4 rebounds. He was the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and was taken No. 1 overall in the 2012 NBA Draft.

Devin Booker — Kentucky
Booker came off the bench and averaged 10 points per game in his lone season at Kentucky in 2014-15. He hit 41.1% of his 3-pointers for the 38-1 team that suffered its only loss in the Final Four.

Didn’t play college basketball: LeBron James