Former University of Illinois Springfield basketball player Richard Oruche earned a spot in the London Olympics over the weekend when his Nigerian team qualified for the Games with a win over the Dominican Republic.
Oruche, who holds dual Nigerian and United States citizenship, is believed to be the first UIS athlete to play in the Olympic Games, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the university.
Oruche, 25, graduated from UIS in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has been playing basketball professionally in Portugal for two seasons.
He was invited to play on the Nigerian basketball team earlier this year. The team defeated the Dominican Republic 88-73 on Sunday in Caracas, Venezuela, to earn the country’s first-ever berth into the Olympic Games.
Oruche was featured in a July 11, 2012, article in the State Journal-Register.
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