Former OSU Basketball Star Stephen Thompson Jr. One Win Away From Olympics
This summer, former Oregon State basketball standout is representing Puerto Rico, competing with the national team for a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Thanks to a win over Mexico in this weekend's semi-finals, Puerto Rico are now one win away from achieving that goal. They will need to beat Lithuania on Sunday in Puerto Rico with tipoff scheduled for 3 PM PT. Fans can watch the game via FIBA's streaming platform Courtside 1891.
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Thompson's best performance of the tournament came in the group stage against Bahrain, where he logged 20 points in 17 minutes. Thompson also currently plays professionally in Puerto Rico for Vaqueros de Bayamón
At Oregon State, Thompson Jr. was the 2017 Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year and finished his four-year careeer at OSU as the program's career leader in three-point shots made with 230.
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Now, Thompson Jr, New Orleans Pelicans' guard Jose Alavarado, and the rest of the Puerto Rican team will need to contend with Sacramento Kings' star Damontas Sabonis. Winner gets the last remaining spot in Group C for the Olympic tournament, which begins on July 27.
Joe Londergan joined the SI brand in 2023 with G5 Football Daily. With over 15 years of experience in covering and working directly in college and pro sports, Joe's expertise has been featured in Front Office Sports, SB Nation, and XRAY.FM. He is a member of both the Football Writers' Association of America and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association. Joe holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in sports administration from Seattle University. Outside of his writing career, Joe enjoys golfing, although he admits that while he hits driver decently, his short game is a liability.