NJCAA Alumni in 2024 Olympics

PARIS, FRANCE – A total of 40 competitors, one coach and two officials from 22 NJCAA member colleges are set to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics beginning Friday, July 26. Representing 20 countries from across the globe, the former two-year college student-athletes will participate in six different sports during the Paris Games.

Boasting the most Olympians of any two-year college program is South Plains (TX). The Texans will have five former student-athletes taking the world stage in Paris. Iowa Central has four former student-athletes competing. Western Texas and Indian Hills (IA) have three alumni competing in the games, while Ranger (TX), Northwest Kansas Tech, New Mexico, Butler (KS), Lee (TX), and Cloud County (TX) each have two. While Butler County (PA) is represented by Joe Lewandowski, as the coach of the United States Men's 3x3 basketball team. 

The United States claims the most former NJCAA student-athletes of any nation participating in the Olympics with six while Jamaica has the second-most with five.

Three Former Texans Fred Kerley, Vernon Norwood, and Jereem Richards will be competing in men's track and field at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Fred Kerley and Vernon Norwood will be running for the United States while Jereem Richards will be running for Trinidad & Tobago. Starting his collegiate career as a walk-on at South Plains College, Fred Kerley ran the 400m dash, 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay. As a sophomore he was ranked in the 200 and 400 for the Texans. Continuing his college career at Texas A&M, he won the 400m at the NCAA DI Championships with a world leading time of 44.85s in 2017 and won the 4x400m relay to help lead the Aggies to their first team victory at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Kerley continued to find success at Texas A&M with wins at the Southeastern Conference Championships, NCAA West Preliminary, and 2017 NCAA Division I Championships. After Texas A&M, Kerley turned professional, having great success and qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics where he won a silver medal in the 100m. Vernon Norwood began as a Texan and was a six-time NJCAA All-American. After South Plains, Norwood made his way to LSU where he was a four-time NCAA national champion and found great success in both indoor and outdoor as he became the 14^th sprinter in collegiate history to sweep NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in the 400m dash in the same season. He has since reached new heights in his professional career with an appearance at the Tokyo Olympics where he won gold in the men's 4x400m relay and bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay. Norwood is now a seven-time gold medalist on the U.S. relay teams where he competes in both the 4x100m relay and the 4x400m relay. Norwood will be competing in the men's 400m and men's 4x400m relay at the Olympics. Jereem Richards ran at South Plains for two seasons where he was an NJCAA National Champion in the 400m. After South Plains he transferred to the University of Alabama for one season where he set indoor and outdoor school records in the 200m and the indoor 4x400m relay. Richards also ran seven of the 10 fastest times in the outdoor 200m and five of the 10 fastest times in the indoor 200m in school history. He was a SEC Indoor Track & Field Champion in the 200m and earned All-America honors in the indoor 200m and 4x400m relay as well as the outdoor 200m, 4x100m relay, and the 4x400m relay. Richards qualified for the Tokyo Olympics where he finished eighth in the 200m and will now be competing in the men's 200m, men's 400m, and men's 4x400m relay at the Paris Olympics.

Natoya Goule and Rosemary Chukwuma were members of the Texans track and field team while Niesha Burgher ran for Western Texas. At South Plains, Natoya Goule ran for the Texans for two seasons where she won titles in the outdoor 400m dash and 800m as well as in the indoor 600m and 800m. Goule earned nine All-America honors and seven NJCAA National Championships as well as holds the record in the 600m as well as the 800m across the NJCAA. After South Plains, she transferred to LSU and then went on to race for the Jamaica women's 4x400m relay team where she won silver at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Goule will now be running in the women's 800m during the Olympics after previously making appearances in the Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Rosemary Chukwuma was a member of the South Plains track and field team for one season. After running for the Texans, she continued her collegiate career at Texas Tech where she has found great success with the Red Raiders including 2022 Big 12 gold and bronze medalist, 2023 Big 12 silver and bronze medalist, and an NCAA outdoor and indoor All-American. The 22-year-old will be making her first ever appearance at the Olympics running in the women's 100m and 4x100m relay for Nigeria. Niesha Burgher ran for Western Texas for two seasons before transferring to UTEP. As a member of the Miners track and field team, Burgher received several accolades and was named the 2023 Conference USA Outdoor Female Track Performer of the Meet and the 2023 Conference USA Indoor Female Track Performer of the Meet. She also earned All-Conference USA first team honors and second team honors for her performances in both indoor and outdoor for the 4x400m, 200m, 4x100m, and the 60m. Burgher will be representing Jamaica in the women's 200m.

Two Former Indian Hills (IA) men's basketball players Nuni Omot and Majok Deng are taking the court for South Sudan at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Nuni Omot transferred to Indian Hills in 2015 after a season at NCAA Division II Concordia. While playing for the Warriors he averaged 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He was named to the first-team All-Conference and was an NJCAA honorable mention All-American honors. After Indian Hills he transferred to Baylor where he played for two seasons as a member of the Bears. Entering his professional career in 2018, Omot has had stints with the Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks as well as several overseas opportunities. He now represents the South Sudan basketball team, the Bright Stars, who have garnered headlines after an impressive run with Team USA on Saturday where they lost 101-100. Majok Deng played two seasons for the Warriors where in his sophomore season he helped lead the team to a 34-3 record and runner-up finish in the 2014 NJCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship. After Indian Hills, Deng continued his collegiate career at Louisiana-Monroe where he was first-team All-Sun Belt Conference, Sun Belt All-Tournament team, NABC All-District 24 first-team, and All-Louisiana first-team. As a professional, he has played eight seasons in the premiere NBL and won the 2024 NBL Championship with the Tasmania JackJumpers. He now plays with Nuni Omot representing South Sudan in the Olympics.

Odessa (TX) is represented by golfer Abraham Ancer. The former Wrangler competed for the 2009-10 season where he was a first team All-American and finished in a tie for second at the 2010 NJCAA DI Men's Golf Championship. After his lone season in the Lone Star State Abraham transferred to the University of Oklahoma where he competed from 2010-2013. During his time in Norman, Ancer played a crucial role in helping current OU head coach Ryan Hybl build a foundation that has led Oklahoma to 12 consecutive NCAA Championships. His 21-under 195 at the 2011 Desert Shootout remains a school record, and his career scoring average of 72.42 ranks 12th all-time for the Crimson and Cream. After graduating from Oklahoma, Ancer turned professional where he competed on the Web.com Tour for three years until earning his PGA Tour card in 2016. Abraham's great play in 2019 earned him a spot on the International Team for the President's Cup and he continued his great play the next two years picking up his lone PGA Tour victory at the 2021 World Golf Classic FedEx St. Jude Invitational. In 2022 Abraham Ancer joined the LIV Tour where he picked up a victory this year at the LIV Golf Hong Kong tournament. Abraham Ancer will represent Mexico at this year's Olympic Games.

Amy Bonner and Blanca Burns will be officiating during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Both Bonner and Burns started as NJCAA referees and have since made their way to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, WNBA, NBA, and made history at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 as the first women referees to officiate games at a men's World Cup. Amy Bonner has 18 years of experience as a referee getting her first Big 12 men's basketball opportunity in 2021 as the first woman to call the games. She has since officiated games in the Atlantic 10, Missouri Valley, Conference USA, and Okinawa. Blanca Burns made global headlines in 2022 as the first Mexican-born female NBA official when she referred the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs. Growing up an athlete and playing basketball up until college, Burns began officiating as a way to make money in college and slowly began to move up in the ranks as a referee. Bonner and Burns will be taking the court as basketball officials at this year's Olympic Games.

Below is a complete listing by sport of all 40 Olympians that participated in the NJCAA:

NJCAA Alumni in the 2024 Paris Olympics

If you know of any former NJCAA student-athletes competing in the 2024 Olympics and they are not listed above, please submit their names using the link here: NJCAA Alumni in the 2024 Olympic Games