Former Hofstra Men's Basketball player Rick Apodaca is on the final 12-man roster for the Puerto Rican Olympic Men's Basketball team, which will compete at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece beginning on Sunday, August 15.

Apodaca, who has been a member of the Puerto Rican National Team for the last two years, survived the final cut this past weekend and is on the final 12-man roster which will travel to Athens. Apodaca helped Puerto Rico qualify for the Olympics last summer, when it finished third in the Tournament of the Americas to capture the third and final bid from the region. He recently scored nine points off the bench in a loss to the United States in an exhibition game on Saturday, July 31 in Jacksonville, Florida.

Barring a last-minute injury or unexpected roster change, Apodaca will become the first Hofstra student-athlete to ever compete in an Olympic Games. Former Pride wrestler Nick Gallo was an alternate on the United States Wrestling team in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, but he did not compete. Puerto Rico opens play at the Olympics on Sunday, August 15, when it takes on the United States in a preliminary round contest.

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.

Apodaca was born in New York City and grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, but both of his parents are of Puerto Rican descent. The Hofstra Men's Basketball team has continued with its Puerto Rican connection as two current members of the Pride -- sophomore guard Carlos Rivera and freshman guard Jorge Lebron are from Puerto Rico.