STANFORD, Calif. – The fifth Olympian in program history, KZ Okpala has been selected by Nigeria to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Okpala, who has spent the last two seasons with the Miami Heat in the NBA, joins Ron Tomsic (USA, 1956), Jim Walsh (USA, 1956), Andrew Vlahov (Australia, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000) and Johnny Rogers (Spain, 2000) as Stanford men's basketball Olympians. Tomsic and Walsh are the only medalists, having captured gold in Melbourne in 1956.
The forward spent two years at Stanford from 2017-19, where he averaged 13.8 points per game and earned first team All-Pac-12 honors in 2019. Also a first-team all-district honoree from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the United States Basketball Writers' Association (USBWA), Okpala was selected with the 32nd pick in the NBA Draft by the Heat.
Okpala has appeared in 42 games across two seasons for the Heat, including nine starts, and averages 2.4 points and 1.7 rebounds per game. His team reached the NBA Finals in 2020.
The Olympics in Tokyo begin July 23 and run through August 8, with the basketball tournament set to open on Sunday, July 25. Nigeria is joined in group B by Australia, Germany and Italy.