USC Basketball: 2 Trojan Alums Helping Nigeria In Olympic Pre-Qualifiers
Two former USC Trojans frontcourt stars-turned-pros will be representing Nigeria to help the team hopefully compete for Olympic gold next year.
Kolossos Rodou small forward Daniel Utomi, who played for USC in 2019-20, and Phoenix Suns big man Chimezie Metu, who suited up for the Trojans from 2015-18 before being drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the '18 NBA draft, will be starring for Team Nigeria this month in some critical matchups.
Nigeria is set to host other African countries (Senegal, Senegal, Mali, Uganda, the Congo Democratic Republic, Cameroon, Guinea, and Tunisia) for the opportunity to represent Africa during the 2024 Paris Olympics, per Olusola Jide Jide of The Daily Trust. The African Olympic Pre-Qualifiers are set to take place between August 12th-20th, at Lagos' Eko Hotel & Suites.
Both have been able to parlay their USC careers into extended pro opportunities.
Across 31 contests with the Trojans (16 starts), Utomi averaged 8.2 points on .410/.339/.742 shooting splits, 3.8 rebounds, and 0.8 assists per game.
Since going undrafted out of USC in 2020, the 6'6" swingman (who transferred to USC from the University of Akron) has plied his trade internationally, suiting up for for clubs in Finland, France, Italy and now Greece.
Across his 104 college contests (he was a full-time starter by the time he was a sophomore), Metu averaged 12.3 points on a .533/.302/.692 slash line, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 bocks, 1.2 assists and 0.7 steals a night.
The 6'11" Metu was voted the Pac-12 Most Improved Player and an All-Pac-12 Second Team selection in 2017. He made the All-Pac-12 First Team during his 2018 junior season, his last with the team.
