KU basketball’s AJ Storr not included on Team Bahamas roster for Olympics qualifying

Kansas junior men’s basketball guard AJ Storr is not participating for Team Bahamas in this week’s 2024 Olympic Games qualifying tournament in Valencia, Spain.

Storr, a 6-foot-7, 205-pound transfer from Wisconsin, was not included on the 12-player Team Bahamas roster despite his leading the squad in scoring at last week’s Greek Basketball Federation Acropolis Tournament in Greece.

Storr, a native of Rockford, Illinois, who earned second-team all-Big Ten honors last season, combined for a team-leading 29 points last week in losses to Greece and Montenegro.

Players named to the Team Bahamas squad for this week’s qualifying action: NBA players Buddy Hield, DeAndre Ayton and Eric Gordon, plus Franco Miller, Travis Munnings, VJ Edgecombe, Donavan Freeman, Kentwan Smith, Deyton Albury, Lourawls Nairn, Sammy Hunter and Jaraun Burrows. Edgecombe is a freshman at Baylor.

It is not known if the roster can change if Team Bahamas advances to the Olympic Games. One source indicated Storr’s not being on the current roster may be related to renewal of his passport rather than a basketball-related decision.

The Star has contacted the Bahamanian National Team for clarification on Storr not making the roster at this time.

On Tuesday, Team Bahamas opened the six-team qualifying tournament with a 96-85 win over Finland.

Hield hit six 3s and finished with 24 points, while Ayton had 19 points and nine rebounds. Edgecombe scored 20 points and Gordon had 16 points for the winners against Finland.

Team Bahamas will play Poland on Wednesday. Just one team from the six-team field will advance to the Olympics.

KU’s Storr played for the Bahamas in a pair of exhibitions against KU during the Jayhawks’ summer tour of Puerto Rico last August. He averaged 15.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in those games. The teams split the two games.

Storr was one of 20 players who participated in a Team Bahamas training camp recently in Houston. He stayed with the team for the exhibitions in Greece. Storr is eligible to play for the Bahamian National Team because his father, Ambrozino Storr Sr., was born in Nassau.

Storr averaged a team-leading 16.8 points per game on 43.4% shooting for the Badgers (22-14) his sophomore season. He averaged 3.9 rebounds per contest with 32 assists to 57 turnovers.

He had a season-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting (3-of-5 from 3) in a 70-61 win over Northwestern in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament and followed that with 20 points on 8-of-23 shooting (3-of-10 from 3) in a semifinal win over Purdue. He had 24 points, five boards and three steals in a 93-87 loss to Illinois in the title game. He hit over 38% of his 3s in the Big Ten’s postseason tourney.

Storr scored 28 points twice (in a loss to Nebraska and in a win over Michigan State) and had 29 points in a victory over Chicago State. His five 3s against Nebraska marked a season high.

Storr, prior to heading to Houston for camp, had been in Lawrence since early June for summer workouts and classes.