Oh Canada: Murray Continues Parade of North-of-Border All-Americans
May 8th, 2016 - 15:01
Amid Stanley Cup competition intensifying, the latest Canadian earning All-American status and showing the nation is more than a hockey hotbed was Kentucky guard Jamal Murray (Ontario). Canada's five-year basketball bounty had previously gone from Syracuse's Kris Joseph (Quebec) to Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk (British Columbia) to three All-Americans two seasons ago in Iowa State's Melvin Ejim (Toronto), Michigan's Nik Stauskas (Ontario) and Kansas' Andrew Wiggins (Ontario) to Gonzaga guard Kevin Pangos (Ontario) in 2014-15. Oregon's Dillon Brooks (Ontario) is the best bet next season for Canadian streak to reach six seasons in a row.
Foreigners such as Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield (Bahamas), Utah center Jakob Poeltl (Austria) and Louisiana State swingman Ben Simmons (Australia) have been much more than bit players in a modern-day immigrant version of "Coming to America." If he doesn't have eligibility problems, will North Carolina State's Omer Yurtseven (center from Turkey) be the next overseas A-A? Following is an alphabetical list of hoop princes of sorts as Murray and Poeltl became 24th and 25th All-Americans who spent most or all of their formative years in a country outside mainland U.S.:
| Foreigner | Pos. | College | Native Country | Year(s) All-American | NBA Draft Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Bogut* | C | Utah | Australia | 2005 | 1st pick overall by Milwaukee |
| Kresimir Cosic | C | Brigham Young | Yugoslavia | 1972 and 1973 | 66th by L.A. Lakers |
| Tim Duncan* | C | Wake Forest | Virgin Islands | 1995 through 1997 | 1st by San Antonio |
| Melvin Ejim | F | Iowa State | Toronto, Ontario | 2014 | undrafted |
| Patrick Ewing* | C | Georgetown | Jamaica | 1982 through 1985 | 1st by New York |
| Adonal Foyle | C | Colgate | West Indies | 1997 | 8th by Golden State |
| Buddy Hield | G | Oklahoma | Bahamas | 2015 and 2016 | to be determined |
| Al Horford | F-C | Florida | Dominican Republic | 2007 | 3rd by Atlanta |
| Kris Joseph | F | Syracuse | Quebec | 2012 | 51st by Boston |
| Jamal Murray | G | Kentucky | Ontario | 2016 | to be determined |
| Dikembe Mutombo | C | Georgetown | Zaire | 1991 | 4th by Denver |
| Eduardo Najera | F | Oklahoma | Mexico | 2000 | 38th by Houston |
| Hakeem Olajuwon | C | Houston | Nigeria | 1983 and 1984 | 1st by Houston |
| Kelly Olynyk | C | Gonzaga | British Columbia | 2013 | 13th by Dallas |
| Kevin Pangos | G | Gonzaga | Ontario | 2015 | undrafed |
| Jakob Poeltl | C | Utah | Austria | 2016 | to be determined |
| Juan "Pepe" Sanchez | G | Temple | Argentina | 2000 | undrafted |
| Detlef Schrempf | F | Washington | Germany | 1985 | 8th by Dallas |
| Rony Seikaly | C | Syracuse | Greece | 1988 | 9th by Miami |
| Doron Sheffer | G | Connecticut | Israel | 1996 | 36th by L.A. Clippers |
| Nik Stauskas | G | Michigan | Ontario | 2014 | 8th by Sacramento |
| Hasheem Thabeet | C | Connecticut | Tanzania | 2009 | 2nd by Memphis |
| Mychal Thompson | F-C | Minnesota | Bahamas | 1977 and 1978 | 1st by Portland |
| Greivis Vasquez | G | Maryland | Venezuela | 2010 | 28th by Memphis |
| Andrew Wiggins | G-F | Kansas | Ontario | 2014 | 1st by Cleveland |
*Named National Player of the Year.