UCLA Basketball: Olympic Team Recruiting All-Freshman Bruin-Turned-All-Star

His first Olympic appearance went pretty well.

All-Star Boston Celtics point guard Jrue Holiday is reportedly getting a full-court press pursuit by Team USA to suit up for his native country once again during the 2024 Paris Olympics, sources inform Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

The three-time All-Defensive First Teamer, who was a Pac-10 All-Freshman honoree during his lone season as a one-and-done prospect with your UCLA Bruins, most recently suited up for Team USA during the "2020" Tokyo Olympic games (which actually transpired in 2021), alongside fellow stars Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, Bam Adebayo, Damian Lillard (for whom he would later be traded), his then-teammate Khris Middleton, his now-teammate Jayson Tatum, and Devin Booker, in addition to a few NBA role players.

Holiday, who is perhaps more effective as a supplemental off-ball playmaker and generally considered to be one of the best defensive guards in the league, thoroughly outplayed Lillard during the Olympics. I'm assuming Lillard's reps burned the tapes before the Bucks could watch, because his defensive deficiencies really hampered his role with the program. 

The 6'3" Holiday hasn't officially committed, but Woj notes that Team USA managing director Grant Hill is leading the charge to recruit him. Remarkably, Woj writes, USA Basketball considers Holiday to have been the second-most impactful player on that starry "2020" team, behind only Durant.

Durant, Booker, and Tatum are all expected to return, and this time they could be joined by a returning LeBron James, plus a pair of NBA MVPs who have yet to suit up for the program, Stephen Curry and Joel Embiid.

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