Foreign Policy: Will Wiggins Become 3rd Consecutive Canadian All-American?

April 13th, 2013 - 17:08

Canada's recent basketball bounty has gone from Syracuse's Kris Joseph (Quebec) to Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk (British Columbia) to freshman phenom Andrew Wiggins (Ontario). Will Wiggins become the third straight Canadian to earn All-American status and show that the nation is more than a hockey hotbed?

Foreigners have been much more than bit players in a modern day version of "Coming to America." Olynyk joined the following alphabetical list of hoop princes of sorts as the first 18 All-Americans, a third of them in the Big East Conference, who spent most 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
Patrick Ewing* C Georgetown Jamaica 1982 through 1985 1st by New York
Adonal Foyle C Colgate West Indies 1997 8th by Golden State
Al Horford F-C Florida Dominican Republic 2007 3rd by Atlanta
Kris Joseph F Syracuse Quebec 2012 51st by Boston
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 TBD
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
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

*Named National Player of the Year.