[Tuck4Bama]

OREM — Former BYU basketball player Travis Hansen hopes to be wearing red, white and blue at the Olympics this summer — for Russia.


The U.S. has the same colors as Russia, where Hansen has been embraced for his basketball skills and humanitarian efforts. He is so well liked in Russia that he has been given citizenship and an invitation to the national team's Olympic training camp.

If he makes the team, he could wind up facing the Americans later this summer. For Hansen, it is an opportunity to play on the biggest stage in sports, albeit for a different country than he could have ever imagined while growing up in Utah.
Hansen said he is an American first, but that the U.S. roster was already stocked with names like Kobe and LeBron, and USA Basketball wasn't going to consider a 30-year-old who had played one season in the NBA and the rest in Europe.

Deseret News | Russia's little hero: Ex-Cougar is invited to join Russia's Olympic camp