With Olympic basketball set to begin this weekend, the Team USA men are days away from beginning their campaign to atone for the country’s failure to win the 2023 FIBA tournament.
These are the best of the best who hail from the United States. With legends like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Steph Curry coming back for what is likely their final run, returning Olympians in Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Devin Booker, Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday, and first-timers in Anthony Edwards, Derrick White and Tyrese Haliburton and Derrick White, the team is primed to compete.
But these stars weren’t always Olympians. Years ago — and in some cases, over a decade ago — they were in high schoolers, looking for their college opportunity that would best lead to NBA stardom (or in one notable case, not college).
Take a look at these players’ histories, from when they were not Olympics, not All-NBA talent, not even college players, but high schoolers making a name for themselves.
Photo: McDonald’s
By the time Bam Adebayo graduated in 2016, he one of the most highly regarded high schoolers in his class. He was a consensus five-star recruit, ranked No. 9 on the 247Sports Composite. Adebayo would go on to star at Kentucky before being drafted at the end of the lottery by the Miami Heat.
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Devin Booker made waves in high school and recruited by Blue Bloods, but he wasn’t quite the bonafide top recruit like some of the other players on this list. That’s not to say college teams didn’t take him seriously — Booker was a four-star player on the 247Sports Composite (5-star by 247 itself) and ranked the No. 22 player in the class of 2014 on both. He attended Kentucky, where he played as a sharpshooting sixth man, and then was drafted by the Phoenix Suns at No. 13.
(Photo: Charlotte Christian)
As the years have progressed, recruiting outlets have become more adept at ranking players, and Steph Curry is one of the prime misses by these outlets in the mid-2000s. In the class of 2006, Curry was ranked a three-star guard — with 146 players ranked higher than him on the 247Sports Composite. He woke up the doubters at Davidson, where he led the team to the Elite Eight and built up his profile to be the No. 7 pick in 2009 by the Golden State Warriors.
Photo by Anne Ryan, USA TODAY
Anthony Davis had the opposite high school profile of Curry. Five-stars, consensus No. 1 player, one-and-done at Kentucky to being the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the then-New Orleans Hornets — and play for Team USA in the 2012 Olympics before setting foot on an NBA court.
Photo by Shaun Heasley for USA TODAY
The talent of Kevin Durant was clear in high school, when he was the No. 2 player in the class behind Greg Oden. The class of 2006 star at Montrose Christian School went on to dominate at Texas before heading to the Seattle SuperSonics.
Photo: Kelly Kline, Under Armour
Anthony Edwards’ reclassification from the class of 2020 to the class of 2019 early in his final year of high school propelled him from the second-best player in his former class to No. 1 player in his new class, overtaking James Wiseman. Edwards attended Georgia for one year before being drafted with the first pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Photo: Gainesville Sun
Joel Embiid was a five-star player in the class of 2013, ranked No. 17 overall on the 247Sports Composite. After winning a championship as a senior, he attended Kansas before being drafted third by the Philadelphia 76ers.
Photo: Jeannette Merten/for USA TODAY Network
In hindsight, Tyrese Haliburton did not receive as much hype as he should have. A three-star player at Oshkosh North High School, Haliburton was ranked No. 169 in the class of 2018 with 27 point guards ranked above him. He didn’t have the offers one would expect for a future star, but he broke out at Iowa State and was drafted No. 12 overall by the Sacramento Kings.
Photo: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Unless you were from the Denver area, you probably didn’t know about Derrick White in high school. Even then, you still might not have. In his senior year in 2012, White had no Div. I offers and no star ranking, opting to join University of Colorado Colorado Springs as a preferred walk-on. After setting a points-per-game record, single-season points record, and becoming the first All-American in UCCS history, he transferred to Colorado for his senior season. He did enough to be picked near the end of the first round in 2017.
Photo: USA TODAY Sports
It’s hard to remember that Jrue Holiday graduated high school in the class of 2008. He was a five-star recruit and ranked in the top five by both 247 and Rivals, He joined a UCLA team that was coming off three straight Final Four appearances, and after a year in Los Angeles departed for the NBA draft, where he was picked No. 17 by the 76ers.
Photo: Brett Hansbauer-USA TODAY Sports
Twenty years later, the legend of high school LeBron James lives on. Billed as “The Chosen One” on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior, the only thing higher than his potential were the expectations that surrounded him. He met and surpassed them and is back to chase one final gold medal with Team USA.
News-Leader File Photo
Jayson Tatum was long considered a top player in the class of 2016. A five-star prospect ranked No. 4 overall on the 247Sports composite, Tatum had his pick of the top universities in the nation. He went with Duke and head coach Mike Krzyzewski, where he spent one season before being picked third in the draft by the Boston Celtics.
