Pitt Basketball's Steven Adams: Olympian?

Steven Adams is in Pittsburgh. Actually, he's been in Pittsburgh and that's been a disappointment for New Zealand fans. Adams' Tall Blacks team is going to be participating in an Olympics qualifying tournament in July, but he won't be there. Add in the fact that a couple of players on the team are out already due to injury, and Adams not being there hurts the team even more.

Here's the deal - New Zealand is one of 12 teams participating in a qualifying tournament to play in the Olympics in London this summer. Three squads will make it so Adams' New Zealand team could be there.

If they happen to beat the odds and make it, the next question is, will Adams play? It sounds like a possibility.

His coach Kenny McFadden had this to say:

McFadden said Adams would be available for selection at the London Olympics should New Zealand overcome the odds and secure one of the three remaining berths in the draw.

"Without a doubt, because it would be a wide open window. He wants to play but a lot of people have to realise, especially guys at that age who have those aspirations, there's a lot of different people pulling at him. The window of opportunity for the NCAA is a very short one when you're looking at the path of trying to get to the NBA."

Adams' focus, as it probably be, is on his college career and, eventually, the NBA. That said, if he has a chance to play in the Olympics, I don't know how you turn that down. Missing a few weeks in the summer before Pitt is even close to getting underway seems like a pretty trivial thing.

The Greentree Summer League is over by the time the Olympics get underway and the lone obstacle would be his classwork. The article says he's in summer school right now, so depending on when his classes end ... well, there's that. But if Adams can work it all out, it'd be great to see him in the Olympics.

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