The Olympics are back, and so is Nick Kay - MSU Denver RED (2024)

Metropolitan State University of Denver fans may notice a familiar face in the Australia Boomers’ Olympic basketball opener July 27 against Spain.

Former Roadrunners All-America selectionNick Kayis once again a key member of the Boomers national team, after helping it earn a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the team’s first Olympic medal in hoops. He was a starter and averaged 11.0 points and 6.3 rebounds during the Olympics.

Australia enters this summer’s Olympic Games with another chance for a basketball medal. And this time, Kay is looking forward to competing in front of fans. The 2020 Games were delayed until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and took place with no public spectators.

“The goal was to go to the Olympics (in 2021), and I was fortunate enough to get to do that. And it just got me so hungry to want to do it again with those extra benefits of having family to be able to be there to support you,” Kay said during an interview with Australian podcaster BackChat Studios in June.

Kay was one of three All-America selections playing for theMSU Denver men’s basketball team during the 2011-12 through 2014-15 seasons, helping the Roadrunners to the NCAA Division II championship game in 2013 and to a regional title and national semifinal berth in 2014. He also excelled in the classroom as an Academic All-America selection.

He is fifth in MSU Denver history in career points (1,766) and fourth in career rebounds (863).

The 6-foot-8 forward has continued to elevate his game as a professional.

Now 31, Kay has been a two-time All-National Basketball League first-team selection in Australia and has also played professionally in New Zealand, Spain and Japan.

He has been a regular member of the Aussie national team since 2017.

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The Boomers contingent includes eight of the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalists, including Kay, and a number of longtime NBA veterans, mostly role players in the world’s best league. They also have pool play games against Canda on July 30 and Greece on Aug. 2 and hope to advance to the quarterfinals, which start Aug. 6.

They may lack the glitz and glamour of the Team USA lineup, but the days of the Americans running out their best players for easy victories is quickly fading into the past.

Still, wins over Team USA are worth noting. Australia beat the Americans for the first time in 2019 in an exhibition prior to the World Cup.

The U.S. team defeated Australia 98-92 in an exhibition game July 15, as the teams tune up for their Olympic runs.

“USA Basketball has been, and still is, the pinnacle of basketball throughout the world,” Kay said in 2021. “There is no doubt they have the most talented team, and their greatness has resulted in the advancement of basketball within Australia. It’s very special to be able to beat them, especially away from home, but our goal is the gold medal.”

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MSU Denver capitalized on the development of basketball in Australia beginning in the late 1990s, as former coach Mike Dunlap was able to tap into his connections to the country to bring top-level talent to the University. That led to some of the Roadrunners’ best-ever teams, including Division II national champions in 2000 and 2002.

Since then, multiple Division I programs have joined in the competition for top Australian players, and the level of talent has continued to grow.

With so many talented players to choose from — Kay’s former Roadrunners teammate Mitch McCarron was in the initial 20-player pool for the Aussie Olympic team — making the national-team roster twice is a supreme accomplishment for Kay.

“It’s a dream come true, and the feeling of telling your family you’ll be representing Australia at an Olympics is indescribable and something I’ll never forget,” Kay told RED in 2021. “What is describable is the sense of pride that takes over when you’re able to put on the green-and-gold jersey and represent your country. It’s a rare privilege and something I will never take for granted.”