RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil) - One of the rising stars of Brazilian basketball, Gui Santos, is among the 17 players in the country's squad ahead of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga.

Santos, 21, featured for the country at last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup, playing in all five of the country's games in Jakarta and averaging 7.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest.

The 1.97m (6'6") shooting guard is big, strong, fast, and hard to stop once he drives to the basket. He played in 23 games this season for the Golden State Warriors.

 

Bruno Caboclo, Yago Santos and Tim Soares, a triumvirate of key players in Brazil's team at the World Cup, are in the squad.

Caboclo is a force. He had 19 points and 13 rebounds in Brazil's 69-65 upset of third-placed Canada while averaging 16.4 points and 9.2 rebounds at the event.

Yago was second on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game, first in assists at 7.2 per game. Soares was third in both efficiency (11.4 EFF per game) and scoring (9.8 points per game).

Evergreen Marcelinho Huertas, Lenovo Tenerife's point guard and MVP of this season's Basketball Champions League, is in the 17 and hoping to play at a third Olympics.

Marcelinho, who turns 41 on  May 25, played in Brazil's Olympic teams in 2012 and 2016, and its World Cup sides in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2019 and 2023.

Brazil will play in Group B at the OQT in Riga with Cameroon and Montenegro, while Latvia are in Group A with the Philippines and Georgia.

Only the winner advances to the Men's Olympic Basketball Tournament Paris 2024.

Brazil are scheduled to play a few preparation games before the OQTs against Poland, Croatia, and Slovenia. Check out the preparation games tracker here.

FIBA