Which Former Oregon Ducks Will Compete In Basketball at Paris Olympics?
![Team USA guard Sabrina Ionescu (6) high-fives teammate Diana Taurasi (12) as they play against Team WNBA in the WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix on July 20, 2024. Team USA guard Sabrina Ionescu (6) high-fives teammate Diana Taurasi (12) as they play against Team WNBA in the WNBA All-Star Game at Footprint Center in Phoenix on July 20, 2024.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4655,h_2618,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/ducks_digest/01j3nvq61g322gy92xe8.jpg)
A handful of former and current Oregon Ducks will be wearing the colors of their home countries proudly and representing the University of Oregon at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Oregon's biggest stars on the basketball court in Paris have to be Sabrina Ionescu of the New York Liberty representing the women and Dillon Brooks of the Houston Rockets representing the men.
Ionescu didn't make the Olympic roster for Tokyo in 2021 so she's playing with a bit of a chip on her shoulder this time around. Brooks helped Canada qualify for their first Olympic bid since the 2000 Sydney Olympics after winning bronze at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Expectations are extremely high for the stacked Canadian men's national team as well as the USA women's national team.
The Sabally sisters will be representing Germany. Satou Sabally of the Dallas Wings helped her home country make history by qualifying for the Olympic Games for the first time ever this past February. Nyara Sabally of the New York Liberty is just as excited to wear Deutschland across her chest as you can see with her showing off the 14K gold Olympic themed grills.
And @nyarasabally got them in Germany’s colors 🧊🔥 pic.twitter.com/QEqZzL54Oy
— highlightHER (@HighlightHER) July 19, 2024
Maite Cazorla of Spain will be competing in her second-straight Olympics. She was a big piece of Oregon's first Final Four appearance in 2019. Entering the 2019 NCAA Tournament, Cazorla owned the program record with 141 career games played and 141 career starts.
For the first time in Olympic history, 3x3 basketball will be played which is very exciting for the future of the sport. It's become popular with current college players and current Oregon Duck Elisa Mevius will be representing Germany in the Paris Olympics. The transfer from Siena averaged 12.0 points per game, 6.8 rebounds per game, 5.1 assists per game and 4.5 steals per game this past season.
One former Duck who you may notice won't be participating this summer is Bol Bol of the Phoenix Suns. He left South Sudan's pre-Olympic training camp for undisclosed personal reasons just a week before the opening ceremony.