Gaels with the Australian Men's Basketball team at the Paris Olympics: On left, assistant coaches David Patrick, top, and Adam Caporn. On right, players top to bottom: Jock Landale, Matthew Dellavedova, and Patty Mills / Photo composite by Piper Westrom
Meet the Five Gaels Who Are Taking Australia Men’s Basketball to the 2024 Paris Olympics
On the court, you’ll find a trio of players: Captain Patty Mills, plus Matthew Dellavedova and Jock Landale. On the bench, look for assistant coaches Adam Caporn and David Patrick.
The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris are about to begin! Perhaps the most formidable basketball team in the Games—the Boomers of Australia, who won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics—has a roster brimming with Gaels.
You’ll also find Saint Mary’s alum Romain Lachens ’03 serving as Director of Engagement for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. And sports psychologist and Japanese TV commentator Miyako Tanaka-Oulevey MA ’95 has played a role as a member of the International Olympic Committee marketing committee. In the days ahead, watch for more on Gaels who have competed in and played a role in the Olympics across the decades.
The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris kick off on July 26. And for the second consecutive games, a trio of Saint Mary's alumni will have the chance to represent Australia in the sport of basketball: Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova, and Jock Landale have all officially been named to the Boomers' 12-man roster.
Captaining the Boomers is Mills, who is appearing in his fifth Olympic games. Dellavedova will be appearing in his fourth Olympic Games. Landale will be appearing in his second. Together with the rest of the squad, they make up what one Australian news outlet esteems “the most talented Australian basketball line-up ever assembled.”
Patty Mills is one of a handful to have scored 500 points in his Olympic career.
Mills is the first Indigenous Australian to appear in five games, and only the second Australian men’s basketball player to achieve that feat. (Andrew Glaze was the first.) For that matter, there have only been five five-time basketball Olympians in the history of the modern games.
Mills also has the distinction of being one of seven men's basketball players to score 500 points in his Olympic career. He needs just 23 points to surpass Manu Ginobili to crack the top five for scoring in Olympic basketball history.
"The most important thing I can say is how proud we are at Saint Mary's,” says Saint Mary’s Men's Basketball Head Coach Randy Bennett. “As a school, as a community and as a basketball program to be able to claim these three players as guys who played for us.” All of them, he notes, “are a big part of our program and have given back to us in many ways."
Coaching Expertise
While Mills, Dellavedova, and Landale will all be on the court for the Boomers, another pair of veterans of SMC Men’s Basketball will be on the bench for the Australian team as assistant coaches. Former Gael student-athlete and Assistant Coach Adam Caporn will be back for his second consecutive Olympics, as will former Saint Mary's Assistant Coach David Patrick.
"Adam was our first Australian player, and started it all,” Bennett notes. That would be the Australian pipeline that has been a key factor in continuing Gael basketball excellence. That extends to coaches as well. “David worked for us here at Saint Mary's and was part of some great teams, including our Sweet 16 team."
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
Fans of Gaels basketball are accustomed to hearing the crowd cheer on players from Australia with the classic chant of “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!” Each season the team celebrates Australian Heritage Night.
Naturally, the Olympics take the fandom to another level.
"To have five guys in our program involved in the Olympics period, but also to have them all part of Australia is a little surreal," Coach Bennett observes. "We just want to recognize them and tell them how proud we are of them. I'm super proud to have been able to have coached and worked with these guys, and wish them the best. I'll be wearing green and gold at these Olympics and will be rooting for them. I'm glad they're able to call Saint Mary's College home!"
While not all Olympic rosters have been announced yet, Saint Mary's is one of only three schools to have three alumni represent the same nation. The other two are University of Kentucky (with players on teams for USA and Canada) and University of Louisville (South Sudan).
Saint Mary's also joins those two schools, plus Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, and Nebraska as universities with three or more men's basketball players on Olympic rosters.
Let the Games Begin
The Boomers, led by Patty Mills, won Olympic Bronze in the Tokyo Olympic Games, which were played in 2021. They were the first team from outside either Europe or North America to win an Olympic medal in basketball.
With their sights set on another medal in 2024, the Boomers played a pair of tune-up games in Abu Dhabi against the USA on July 15 and against Serbia on July 16. Jock Landale racked up 20 points for the Boomers—more than any player on either team—and brought the Aussies close to catching Team USA, which held on to win 98–92. After shooting only two for eight against the US team, Patty Mills roared to life in the matchup against Serbia, scoring 28 points and delivering five assists, leading the Boomers to an 84–73 victory.
The Paris games open on July 26, and the Boomers play their first game against Spain on July 27. They are part of Group A in the tournament, along with Greece, Canada, and Spain. As Sports Illustrated notes, “It's the ‘Group of Death’ in light of the fact that some place Spain, Canada, and Australia among the legitimate contenders to end up in the gold-medal game on Aug. 10.”
We know who we’ll be rooting for.
