PARIS – Two-time national champion and UConn men's basketball alum Niels Giffey will participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics, recently named to the final roster for the Germany national team. It will be Giffey's second Olympic appearance, also competing for Germany in the 2020 Tokyo Games.
Giffey has carved out a lengthy overseas career since departing Storrs following the 2014 title. He has competed in the top-flight leagues in Germany, Lithuania and Spain in addition to playing with the senior German team since 2013. He was a member of the 2023 Basketball World Cup squad that won the nation's first title.
Germany begins play at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, July 27. They are part of Group B in the basketball tournament with Brazil, France and Japan.
During his time in Connecticut, Giffey appeared in 139 games between 2010-14, playing a key role for both the 2011 and 2014 title teams. His best season came as a senior in 2013-14 when he started 16 games and scored 8.4 points with 3.8 rebounds per game, shooting 54.0 percent from the floor and 48.3 percent from 3-point range.
Giffey is one of four all-time Huskies in men's basketball history to participate in the Olympics, joining; Ray Allen (USA, 2000), Emeka Okafor (USA, 2004) and Gavin Edwards (Japan, 2020). He is the first-ever UConn men's basketball graduate to play in multiple Olympic Games.
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