Women’s basketball star in line for Olympic debut.
The Australian women’s basketball program announced the national team roster for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics this week, and a Stanford Cardinal product was among the players who made the cut.
Forward Alanna Smith, who played for the Cardinal from 2015-19, is one of 12 players selected for the squad, one of four who will be making her Olympic debut this year if everything goes according to plan.
Two more for Tokyo‼️@StanfordWBB‘s @AlannaSmith96 will be making her Olympic debut and @UTAHWBB‘s Leilani Mitchell will return for her second Games with @BasketballAus.#OlympiansMadeHere | #GoStanford | #GoUtes
— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) May 27, 2021
After Stanford, Smith was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, and has seen playing time in the WNBA season that just started a couple weeks back.
Australia are joined in Group C play by Puerto Rico, China and Belgium, with two and possibly three teams from that group moving on to the quarterfinals. The Opals last medaled at the Olympics in 2012, after they were stunned in the quarterfinal round in 2016 by Serbia.
Smith is far from the only Cardinal to be headed to the Olympics, even in women’s basketball. We’ll keep you posted on other Stanford athletes, past and present, who head to Tokyo to compete this summer.