Globe Trotters: Dellavedova & Lawrence Among Vanishing Breed of Olympian
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. Guards Matthew Dellavedova (Saint Mary's/from Australia) and Andrew Lawrence (College of Charleston/Great Britain), participating in the XXX Olympiad, are going to be on the endangered species list before too long in the New World Order.
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 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):
| Foreign Player | Pos. | U.S. College | Native Country | Olympic Year(s) | PPG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Almanza | F | Texas | Mexico | 1960 and 1964 | 17.2 |
| Martin Ansa | G | Wagner | Puerto Rico | 1964 | 6.9 |
| Uwe Blab | C | Indiana | West Germany/Germany | 1984 and 1992 | 7.1 |
| Andrew Bogut | F-C | Utah | Australia | 2004 and 2008 | 13.2 |
| Craig Bradshaw | F-C | Winthrop | New Zealand | 2004 | 3.0 |
| Andy Campbell | C | Louisiana State | Australia | 1976 and 1984 | 3.7 |
| Kresimir Cosic | C | Brigham Young | Yugoslavia | 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980 | 11.0 |
| Matthew Dellavedova | G | Saint Mary's | Australia | 2012 | TBD |
| Marcel de Souza | F | Bradley | Brazil | 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992 | 12.6 |
| David Diaz | G-F | Houston | Venezuela | 1992 | 3.7 |
| Mark Dickel | G | UNLV | New Zealand | 2000 and 2004 | 9.0 |
| Raul Duarte | F | Iowa State | Peru | 1964 | 9.0 |
| Andrew Gaze | G-F | Seton Hall | Australia | 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 | 19.7 |
| Joaquim Gomes | F | Valparaiso | Angola | 2004 and 2008 | 7.5 |
| Cameron Hall | F | Duke | Canada | 1976 | 4.4 |
| Lars Hansen | C | Washington | Canada | 1976 | 13.7 |
| Carl Herrera | F | Houston | Venezuela | 1992 | 16.7 |
| Arturas Karnishovas | F | Seton Hall | Lithuania | 1992 and 1996 | 13.4 |
| Andrew Lawrence | G | College of Charleston | Great Britain | 2012 | TBD |
| Alfred "Butch" Lee | G | Marquette | Puerto Rico | 1976 | 16.0 |
| Marcos Leite | F | Pepperdine | Brazil | 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 | 14.3 |
| Kari Liimo | F | Brigham Young | Finland | 1964 | 14.7 |
| Luc Longley | C | New Mexico | Australia | 1988, 1992 and 2000 | 7.3 |
| Francisco "Kiko" Martinez | F | New Mexico State | Mexico | 1936 | TBD |
| Dan Meagher | F | Duke | Canada | 1984 | 5.3 |
| Patrick Mills | G | Saint Mary's | Australia | 2008 and 2012 | 14.2 |
| Kai Nurnberger | G | Southern Illinois | Germany | 1988 and 1992 | 3.5 |
| Edgar Padilla | G | Massachusetts | Puerto Rico | 1996 | 4.4 |
| Eddie Palubinskas | G | Louisiana State | Australia | 1972 and 1976 | 25.6 |
| Alvydaz Pazdrazdis | F | McNeese State | Lithuania | 1992 | 2.3 |
| Kirk Penney | G | Wisconsin | New Zealand | 2000 and 2004 | 8.9 |
| Ramon Ramos | C | Seton Hall | Puerto Rico | 1988 | 8.3 |
| Ramon Rivas | C | Temple | Puerto Rico | 1988, 1992 and 1996 | 7.6 |
| Henrik Rodl | G | North Carolina | Germany | 1992 | 6.0 |
| Detlef Schrempf | F | Washington | West Germany/Germany | 1984 and 1992 | 21.0 |
| Darius Songaila | F | Wake Forest | Lithuania | 2000 and 2004 | 9.0 |
| Carmelo Travieso | G | Massachusetts | Puerto Rico | 1996 | 8.0 |
| Andrew Vlahov | F | Stanford | Australia | 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000 | 6.5 |
| Christian Welp | C | Washington | West Germany | 1984 | 9.1 |
| Bill Wennington | C | St. John's | Canada | 1984 | 7.0 |