Basketball Alum Gregory Echenique Named to Venezuelan National Team; Will Compete in Olympics

A 6-foot-9 center from Guatire, Venezuela...#00...Gregory Echenique!!!!!!!

What became a familiar refrain over the course of 101 games (and 95 starts) at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., from 2010-13 will move to a global stage with the opening of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next weekend as Echenique was named to the team late Friday night with this tweet from the Venezuelan Basketball Federation.

#SelNac Estos son los 12 jugadores que escogió Néstor García para representar a Venezuela en Río pic.twitter.com/s2sZaNNTkg
— FVB (@FVBaloncesto) July 30, 2016

Echenique (Etch-ih-NEE-kay) is in the mix to be the starting center for a Venezuelan National Team making its second Olympic appearance ever, and first since taking 11th place in 1992.

When he takes the floor in Rio, he'll become the second Creighton basketball player to appear in the Olympics, joining Willard Schmidt (1936). The only other Creighton Olympians on record include Carl Vincequerra (1936 boxing), Scott Servais (1988 baseball) and Chad McConnell (1992 baseball). Schmidt and Servais are the only two Bluejays to earn a medal, with each man taking home a gold medal. It's also worth noting that Creighton's current Associate Athletic Director Steve Brace served as the Athletic Trainer for the 1996 Men's Basketball Team that won Olympic gold in Atlanta.

Echenique was a top-20 recruit nationally in high school while playing for Dan Hurley, and initially chose Rutgers. He averaged 9.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 39 games with the Scarlet Knights before transferring to Creighton amid lofty expectations in January of 2010.

Echenique made an immediate impact after becoming eligible on Dec. 17, 2010, leading the MVC in field goal percentage (.609) and blocked shots per game (1.8), while topping CU with 24 dunks during a season that saw him average 10.5 points per game.

As a junior, Echenique was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year, leading the league with 57 blocked shots as Creighton tied a school-record with 29 victories. Echenique averaged 9.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game while starting all 35 games.

He closed his Bluejay career with a strong senior year, averaging 9.7 points and 6.6 rebounds with 36 dunks while starting all 36 games in 2012-13. His 62 blocked shots were the most by a Bluejay since 1990-91, and his 65.7 percent field goal percentage was second-best in school history for a single season.

Echenique scored his 1,000th point as a Bluejay in his final game, an NCAA Tournament contest vs. Duke, to wrap his Creighton career with 1,006 points. His school record for career field goal percentage (.625) was broken last spring by Geoffrey Groselle, and he still ranks third in CU history with 174 blocked shots and in the top-15 in rebounds with 669 as a Bluejay.

Since graduating in 2013, Echenique has played professionally in Germany, Belgium and his home country of Venezuela. He also played two games with the NBA's Toronto Raptors in the Las Vegas Summer League in 2013, scoring nine points and grabbing four rebounds.

Echenique has already established himself at the international level, playing for the Venezuelan National Team in both the 2009 and 2011 FIBA Americas Tournament, as well as the 2012 Olympic qualifier, the 2015 Pan American Games, the 2015 South American League and the 2016 FIBA Americas League. In those events, he went head-to-head against NBA big men Al Horford, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, Renaldo Balkman, Tiago Splitter and Charlie Villanueva, among others.

Venezuela qualified for the Olympics with a scintillating run to the gold medal at the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City last September. Venezuela lost half of its first eight games before narrowly advancing to the semifinals. With an Olympic bid on the line in the semi's, the Venezuelan squad avenged a 20-point loss earlier in the tournament to Canada, winning a 79-78 game on a free throw with 0.3 seconds left. The Venezuela team, coached by Nestor Garcia, then avenged another loss, topping Argentina 76-71 in the final.

Venezuela's Olympic run will start on August 6th vs. Serbia and a match-up against the United States on Aug. 8. Also on the docket for Venezuela are games against China (Aug. 10), France (Aug. 12) and Australia (Aug. 14). The quarterfinals begin on Aug. 17, with the semifinals set for Aug. 19. The finals will take place on Aug. 21.

Echenique's team has traversed the globe in the last few weeks in preparation for Rio de Janeiro, playing six games in Lithuania and Spain before Friday's game against Team USA at the United Center in Chicago. Echenique started in that contest and finished with two points, three rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot while playing 16 minutes in a game won by the US, 80-45.

Echenique won't be the only connection to the Creighton Basketball program in Rio de Janeiro. The wife of current Creighton men's basketball video coordinator Tim MacAllister, Ashley MacAllister, will coach the Puerto Rico Women's Rifle team at the Summer Olympics, as well.

Basketball Alum Gregory Echenique Named to Venezuelan National Team; Will Compete in Olympics

Players Mentioned

Geoffrey Groselle

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