2024 Paris Olympics: All the Wildcats we'll be rooting for at the Summer Games

Former Wildcat athletes and coaches will represent 10 different countries.

PUBLISHED JUL 25, 2024

All the U of A stars making us proud in Paris

Phoenix, Arizona: Current and former Wildcat athletes and coaches will represent 10 different countries – the US, Germany, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Italy, Guam, Australia and the Philippines – in six different sports: beach volleyball, swimming and diving, track and field, basketball, soccer and golf. Here is the full list, go Wildcats!

Beach Volleyball

Chase Budinger (USA)

Chase played three seasons for the U of A men's basketball team and was named the Pac-10 Rookie of the Year in 2007. After leaving Arizona, Budinger was the 44th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He played seven seasons in the NBA, with the Houston Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns. In 2017, Budinger decided to retire from basketball to focus on playing professional beach volleyball. Budinger, along with beach volleyball partner Miles Evans, qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, France. Budinger will become the only person to play a regular-season game in the NBA and Olympic beach volleyball.

Swimming and Diving

Ralph Daleiden (Luxembourg)

Ralph will be a junior during the 2024-2025 season and has qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 50-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events in each of his first two seasons. He will compete in the 100-meter freestyle event in Paris.

Dwight Dumais (USA)

Is the assistant coach for USA Diving and the head diving coach at the U of A. He was named Pac-12 Diving Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2023. Dumais was a five-time All-American diver at Stanford, and previously coached USA Diving at the 2017 World Championships in Budapest.

Jorge Iga (Mexico)

Jorge will compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyle events in Paris. He swam for the U of A from 2017-2020 and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in 2018 in the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle relays.

Thomas Lukminas (Lithuania)

Thomas is an incoming freshman who will join the Wildcats for the 2024-2025 season. He will represent Lithuania in the 800-meter free relay.

Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhanghah (Azerbaijan)

Sheikhalizadehkhanghah previously represented Azerbaijan in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Maryam will be a sophomore at the U of A during the 2024-2025 season and will compete in the 50-meter freestyle event in Paris. Sheikhalizadehkhanghah previously represented Azerbaijan in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, competing in the 100-meter freestyle.

Track and Field

Giancarla Trevisan (Italy)

Trevisan will represent Italy in the 4x400-meter relay.

Giancarla competed for the U of A from 2014-2016 and was a top performer in the 400-meter events. Trevisan will represent Italy in the 4x400-meter relay.

Joseph Green (Guam)

Joseph was a member of the 2023-2024 U of A track and field team and set the Guamanian men's indoor record in the 60-meter event. He will compete in the 100-meter event in Paris.

Karolina Pahlitzsch (Germany)

Pahlitzsch previously represented Germany in the 4x400-meter relay at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Karolina ran track and field at the U of A from 2017-2019, competing in 400- and 800-meter race and hurdle events and finishing in third place in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships. Pahlitzsch previously represented Germany in the 4x400-meter relay at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and will compete in the same event in Paris.

Edgar Rivera-Morales (Mexico)

Paris will be Rivera-Morales' third Olympics.

Edgar was with the U of A from 2010-2013 and competed in the high jump. As a Wildcat, he earned NCAA indoor and outdoor All-American recognitions in 2011 and 2012 and was the 2012 Pac-12 Championship runner-up. Paris will be Rivera-Morales' third Olympics. He previously competed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and at the 2020 Olypmics in Tokyo.

Men's Basketball

Steve Kerr (USA)

Steve was a member of the U of A men's basketball team from 1984-1988 and is currently the head coach of the Golden State Warriors. He is the head coach for Team USA's men's basketball team. He was named NBA Coach of the Year and named one of the 'Top 15 Coaches in NBA History' as part of the organization's 75th anniversary celebration.

Josh Green (Australia)

Josh played for the Wildcats during the 2019-2020 season before being selected 18th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Green previously represented Australia in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning a bronze medal.

Women's Soccer

Twila Kilgore (USA)

Twila is the assistant coach for Team USA's women's soccer team. She played soccer for the U of A from 1998-2001. She was Arizona's Rookie of the Year at the conclusion of the 1998 season. Kilgore is the first American-born woman to earn US Soccer's Pro Coaching License.

Women's Golf

Bianca Pagdanganan (Philippines)

Pagdanganan helped the Wildcats capture the NCAA Team Championship in 2018.

Bianca played the final two seasons of her college career at the U of A after transferring from Gonzaga University after the 2017 season. Pagdanganan helped the Wildcats capture the NCAA Team Championship in 2018. She also made first team All-Pac-12 and finished third individually at the 2019 NCAA Championship.3