photo by: Courtesy of Bahamas Basketball Federation

Kansas guard AJ Storr trains with the Bahamas national basketball team on Monday, June 24, 2024, in Piraeus, Greece.

A full season before coming to Kansas, AJ Storr was able to take on the Jayhawks last summer as part of the Bahamas national men’s basketball team.

Now, he could get the chance to play for the country again, this time representing KU on the world stage in the process.

Storr is part of a group of Bahamian players training in Europe in the hopes of getting the country to its first-ever Olympic appearance in men’s basketball.

The team, whose current contingent includes a wide range of players from Philadelphia 76ers guard Buddy Hield to highly ranked incoming Baylor freshman V.J. Edgecombe, is in Piraeus, Greece, getting ready to take on Montenegro on Wednesday and the host Greeks on Thursday as part of the Aegean Acropolis Tournament.

Then the real competition begins in Valencia, Spain, from July 2-7 as the Bahamas dukes it out with five other countries for one spot in the Olympics, beginning with matches against Finland on July 2 and Poland on July 3.

The Bahamas is in uncharted territory after upsetting Argentina in qualifying last August, led by 27 points from Eric Gordon and 17 from Hield, to earn its spot in Spain.

This will not be Storr’s first time participating in activities with the national team, of course, after the native of Rockford, Illinois, played for the Bahamas in that pair of exhibitions against KU during the Jayhawks’ summer tour of Puerto Rico last August. He averaged 15 points and five rebounds across those two games before playing the following collegiate season for Wisconsin.

Prior to embarking for Greece, Storr, an incoming junior guard for KU, was part of a team training camp in Houston last week that saw him practice with Edgecombe, Hield, NBA players Deandre Ayton, Eric Gordon and Klay Thompson, and more.

“This is what we kind of dreamed of, getting all of our young guys here. We have VJ Edgecombe, Donnie Freeman and AJ Storr,” director of operations Lynden “LJ” Rose told Bahamian daily newspaper The Tribune about the camp. “Then you have your college guys Deyton Albury, Sammy Hunter and NBA guys Buddy Hield, Deandre Ayton, Eric (Gordon) and Klay Thompson just to get that good mix. Guys are able to lean on each other for guidance and it’s a fun group and guys are ready to compete.”

Freeman is a McDonald’s All-American set to play for Syracuse next season, Albury is a recent transfer from Queens to Utah State and Hunter played at Ole Miss and Akron.

The team is coached by Golden State Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco.

The qualified teams for Olympic men’s basketball include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Serbia, South Sudan and the United States, with four more places left to be determined via tournaments like the Bahamas’.