He’s played in the NCAA Tournament, alongside Victor Wembanyama in France and on the Garden floor with the Boston Celtics.
Now, Connecticut’s Tremont Waters is heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The New Haven native helped lead Puerto Rico to its first berth in men’s basketball in 20 years on Sunday, with a 79-68 win over Lithuania in an Olympic Qualifying Tournament final in San Juan.
Waters, who went to Notre Dame High School in West Haven and played college basketball at LSU, scored 18 points in 26 minutes of action.
Featuring alongside New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado in the backcourt, Waters was one of Puerto Rico’s standout players on their path to Olympic qualification. He scored 24 points in a semifinal win over Mexico and had 10 points and 12 assists in a group stage win over Italy.
The 26-year-old Waters represents Puerto Rico in part because he plays professionally on the island and his mother is of Puerto Rican descent.
Waters was Puerto Rico’s leading scorer at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, and he figures to play a major role again in Paris in less than a month.
Puerto Rico last competed in the Olympics in 2004, when it defeated the United States in group stage play, one of the biggest upsets in Olympic basketball history.
The national team will be looking for its first medal in history.
