Former Kansas center Joel Embiid won an Olympic gold medal as a member of USA Basketball at the 2024 Olympics in Paris Saturday as the USA defeated host France, 98-87.

USA posted an 11-0 record throughout the summer, going 5-0 against Olympic competition in the USA Basketball Showcase July 10-22 and 6-0 in the Olympic Games in Paris. At the Olympics, the USA team defeated Serbia (110-84), South Sudan (103-86) and Puerto Rico (104-83) in pool play and Brazil (122-87) in the quarterfinals, Serbia (95-91) in the semifinals and France in the gold medal contest.
 
For the Olympics, Embiid averaged 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in five games played. The Yaounde, Cameroon native came on strong in the last four contests at the Olympics averaging 13.0 points.
 
Embiid's gold medal marks the 14th time a Jayhawk has won gold at the Olympics and the first since Jo Jo White achieved the honor at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. A complete list of Kansas Olympians is below.
 
Embiid made his USA Basketball debut at the 2024 Olympics. In October 2023, Embiid stated his goal of representing the United States. He had the opportunity to represent the USA, France and Cameroon. Embiid became a U.S. citizen in September 2022.
 
Embiid is the first Kansas player since Sasha Kaun to participate in the Olympic Games. Kaun won a bronze medal while representing Russia in the 2012 Olympics in London. The last KU player to play for the USA National Team was Danny Manning in 1988.
 
The 2023 NBA MVP, Embiid was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and played at KU for the 2013-14 season. He has been selected to seven NBA All-Star games, is a five-time All-NBA honoree and has been named to the NBA All-Defense Team three times. Embiid led the NBA in scoring in 2022 and 2023.
 
While at Kansas, Embiid played in 28 games and started 20. In his freshman season he averaged 11.2 points and 8.1 rebounds, while racking in several postseason awards. Embiid was named the 2014 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection. He was also named to the 2014 Big 12 Newcomer and Big 12 All-Defense teams.
 
Embiid set the Kansas freshman record for most blocked shots in a game with eight blocked shots against Oklahoma State. He also set the Kansas freshman record for most rebounds per game (8.1), most blocks in a single freshman season (72), and posted the highest field goal percentage in a freshman season at Kansas (62.6%).
 
Kansas Men's Basketball Olympians
Joel Embiid (2024) Gold
Charles Hoag (1952) Gold
Bill Hougland (1952, 1956) Gold, Gold
Sasha Kaun, Russia (2012) Bronze
John Keller (1952) Gold
Allen Kelley (1960) Gold
Dean Kelley (1952) Gold
Robert Kenney (1952) Gold
Bill Lienhard (1952) Gold
Clyde Lovellette (1952) Gold
Danny Manning (1988) Bronze
Darnell Valentine (1980)
Jo Jo White (1968) Gold
Phog Allen (1952) Gold, asst. coach
Larry Brown (2004) Bronze, asst. coach
Roy Williams (2004) Bronze, asst. coach
Arthur Lonborg (1960) Gold, manager
Dean Nesmith (1960) Gold, trainer