BATON ROUGE — Tremont Waters, who had two successful seasons at LSU, including a Southeastern Conference championship in 2019, helped Puerto Rico advance through one of the FIBA qualification rounds to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Puerto Rico defeated Lithuania 79-68 to get to the Olympics for the first time since 2004. Waters scored 18 points in the championship game. Puerto Rico will compete in a group in France against Serbia, South Sudan, and the United States.
As a freshman at LSU in 2017-18, Waters started 32 of 33 games and averaged 15.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game. He concluded the season with 198 assists, surpassing the school record for a freshman at LSU.
During his sophomore season (2018-19), he averaged 15.3 points, 5.8 assists, and 2.91 steals per game. He led the SEC in assists and steals averages and was fourth in the country in steals average. He set a school best of 96 steals for the season, topping the 30-plus year mark of 93 in 1987.
In 2019, the Tigers won the SEC regular-season championship and progressed to the NCAA Sweet 16. Waters is best known for a driving layup that beat Maryland in the NCAA second round in under three seconds.
He was a Freshman All-SEC Team member, SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, All-SEC first team, and Bob Cousy Award finalist.
The Boston Celtics selected him in the second round with the 51st pick, signing him to a two-way deal. He split his time with the Maine Red Claws and was named the NBA G League Rookie of the Year after averaging 18.0 points, 7.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 36 games.
For the next few seasons, he alternated between the G League and 10-day contracts with NBA teams Toronto and Washington.
After the G League season in 2022-23, the Gigantes de Carolina selected Waters with the first overall pick in the 2022 Baloncesto Superior Nacional draft, where he averaged 17.8 points and 8.0 assists per game. He was chosen as the BSN Rookie of the Year. In July 2023, Waters helped the Gigantes capture their first BSN championship.
He then spent a year playing in China before returning to Gigantes de Carolina.
Waters, 26, is of Puerto Rican heritage and competed for the Puerto Rico men’s national basketball team in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup, leading the event in thefts.
The men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics will be aired by the NBC family of networks and streamed on Peacock.
