College Basketball Players From Colombia
College basketball programs always recruit from various places around the world to build their teams. One of the countries that many schools often get players from is the nation of Colombia.
Here’s a list of some of the most prominent college basketball players from Colombia. Check out where basketball took some of the top Colombian players ever.
Juan Palacios
Juan Palacio is probably one of the most known college basketball players from Colombia. Palacio was born in Medellin, Colombia and moved to New York to attend high school at Our Savior New American.
He became a star player in high school averaging 20 points and 9 rebounds a game. This led to former Louisville coach Rick Pitino recruiting Palacios to play for him from 2004 to 2008.
In his freshman year, Palacios helped Louisville make it to the Final Four and later multiple NCAA playoff appearances. Juan went undrafted by the NBA and spent the next six years playing in various leagues around the world.
Tonny Trocha
Tonny Trocha is a former Texas A&M basketball player who played with the school from 2014 to 2018. He was the team’s starting center who improved every year he played for the Aggies.
Trocha’s two best years were his junior and senior year, where he averaged 6-8 points and shot 40% from the field. After finishing college, Trocha returned to Colombia and played on the national team for seasons.
While also playing on the national team, Tonny also played in Argentina, Sweden, and two seasons in Bulgaria.
Stalin Ortiz
Stalin Ortiz is a well-known basketball player who has played in the pro Columbian league for years. Before going pro, Ortiz was recruited to play basketball at the University of Valparaiso.
In Ortiz’s best year with Valparaiso, the shooting guard was one of the team’s leading scorers with 15 ppg. After playing a few years at college, Stalin returned home to primarily play ball in the Colombian pro league.
He also played a season in Argentina and in Italy, but has played nearly his whole career in Colombia. Ortiz was the leading scorer for the Colombian national team in the 2016 South American Basketball Championship in Venezuela.
Jaime Echenique
Jaime Echenique is one of the most prominent college basketball players from Colombia who had a wild journey to get there. Echenique used basketball to get away from gang life in Colombia and became one of the country’s best players.
His father dreamed of him playing basketball in a US college. The head coach of Trinity Valley Community College, Guy Furr was informed by one of his Colombian players about Echenique.
Furr gave Jaime a tryout and the young Colombian made his way to the States. He played with Trinity Valley and was later offered a scholarship to play at Wichita State University.
Echenique played all four years for Wichita before turning pro. As a pro, Jaime played everywhere from multiple NBA summer league teams, and is now playing in Turkey.
