Globe Trotters: Australian Guards Attending Saint Mary's Boasted Best Chance

As professionals continue to assert themselves in the previously amateur-only Olympics, active foreign players enrolled at U.S. colleges competing in the Games are becoming rare. In 2012 while participating in the XXX Olympiad, it was clear guards Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary's/from Australia) and Andrew Lawrence (College of Charleston/Great Britain) were going to be on the endangered species list before too long in the New World Order. Dellavedova and fellow Saint Mary's backcourter Patty Mills coupled with former NCAA national player of the year Andrew Bogut (Utah) gave Australia the best chance to offer a competitive game against the U.S. The Aussies led by five points at halftime against the Americans before bowing 98-88.

Five former U.S. college hoopsters in this "foreign" category who averaged more than 16 ppg in Olympic competition are Louisiana State's Eddie Palubinskas (25.6 for Australia), Washington's Detlef Schrempf (21 for West Germany/Germany), Seton Hall's Andrew Gaze (19.7 for Australia), Texas' Albert Almanza (17.2 for Mexico) and Houston's Carl Herrera (16.7 for Venezuela). Before professionals dominated the scene, following is a sampling of Olympians such as Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga) who first played in the Games for countries other than the U.S. before or during a season attending an American university before becoming a pro (scoring average is for Olympic participation):