Pitt basketball alum Marcedes Walker to compete in Paris Olympics for Azerbaijan

After an accolade-filled Pitt women’s basketball career, Marcedes Walker was officially named to the Azerbaijan Olympic roster Wednesday.

Walker helped propel Azerbaijan to the FIBA 3×3 Qualifying Tournament title in April, clinching the country’s first spot in the Olympics for the 3×3 basketball event.

“It’s an honor to represent Azerbaijan in the Olympics in Paris in 2024,” Walker said in a statement. “It’s always been a dream of mine to go to the Olympics, and now that dream is a reality.”

Walker will be joined by teammates Tiffany Hayes, Alexandra Mollenhauer and Dina Ulyanova, as Azerbaijan will compete in six matches from July 30 through Aug. 2. The team’s opponents are Spain (July 30), the United States (July 31), France (Aug. 1), Germany (Aug. 1), Australia (Aug. 2) and China (Aug. 2).

Walker, from Philadelphia, is one of five players in program history to earn two or more first-team all-conference accolades. Shavonte Zellous was the only other player with that accomplishment since 2000.

Walker was a two-time WBCA All-American for District 1 (2007, 2008), a two-time All-Big East First Team selection (2006, 2007), an All-Big East Second Team pick (2008), an All-Big East honorable mention (2005) and an All-Big East Freshman Team honoree (2005). Also, she is first on the Pitt all-time rebounding list (1,162), sixth on the Pitt all-time scoring list (1,870) and a two-time AP All-American honorable mention (2007, 2008).

FIBA 3×3 games have two teams of three players compete on half of a basketball court. The sport debuted at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.