Former Hofstra Men's Basketball player Rick Apodaca (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen HS) has been knocked out of action with the Puerto Rican Olympic Men's Basketball team due to an injury he suffered in a loss to Lithuania on Tuesday, August 17.

Apodaca aggravated a previously-existing foot injury in the fourth quarter of the Lithuania game, and he has returned to the United States to undergo surgery. Puerto Rico, meanwhile, advanced to the medal round with an 87-82 win over Australia on Saturday, August 21, improving to 3-1 in preliminary round play. Should Puerto Rico finish in the top three, Apodaca would still be eligible to receive a medal, since he participated in the preliminary rounds.

Apodaca, the first Hofstra student-athlete to ever compete in an Olympic games, scored five points and shot 2-for-3 from the floor in 11 minutes in the Lithuania game. He also played one minute in Puerto Rico's historic 92-73 upset win over the United States on Sunday, when he officially became the first Hofstra student-athlete to take part in an Olympics. Former Pride wrestler Nick Gallo was an alternate on the United States Wrestling team in the 1976 Summer Olympics, but he did not compete.

Apodaca scored 1,422 points for Hofstra from 1999-2003, ranking him ninth all-time in Pride history. He is also second all-time in school history with 190 three-pointers made and was a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection in 2001-02. He was a part of two NCAA Tournament teams with the Pride, including the 2000-01 team which finished 26-5 to tie the school record for wins in a season.