Markus Howard granted FIBA approval to represent Puerto Rico / News - Basketnews.com

FIBA's approval of Markus Howard's sports citizenship change enables the EuroLeague star to bolster Puerto Rico's national team, elevating expectations for their performance in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Credit: /IPA/SIPA-SCANPIX Credit /IPA/SIPA-SCANPIX

FIBA has approved the change of sports citizenship for Markus Howard, a player of Puerto Rican descent, allowing him to wear the national team uniform, as announced by the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation.

Points this season

47%84,6Points made:84,6Accuracy:47,2%Place in standings:5Record max:109Record min:62Best scorer:Markus HowardTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"After a long process, this is definitely great news and a significant contribution to our national team. We are talking about one of the best scorers in Europe," remarked Yum Ramos, president of the Puerto Rico Basketball Federation.

New Jersey-born Markus Howard is the brother of Monbus Obradoiro point guard Jordan Howard, who represented Puerto Rico in the last FIBA World Cup.

Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz scoring ace previously represented the United States with the U-16 and U-17 junior teams in 2015 and 2016, respectively, clinching gold in the 2016 FIBA U17 World Cup in Spain. Despite his earlier affiliations, Howard had never appeared in any FIBA men's competition wearing a national team jersey.

"We are very happy to welcome Markus to our national team," added Carlos Arroyo, general manager of the Puerto Rico NT. "Markus has become one of the best players in Europe, and for us, it is a luxury to have him. His offensive level will raise the expectations of our team."

Howard recently won the 2023-24 Alphonso Ford EuroLeague Top Scorer Trophy, thanks to his league-best average of 19.5 points per game.

Howard set the EuroLeague's single-season scoring record with 759 total points over 38 games between the regular season, Play-In Showdown, and EuroLeague Playoffs.

Meanwhile, Puerto Rico will host one of the four Olympic Qualifying Tournaments in San Juan from July 2 to 7, 2024. They are in Group B alongside Italy and Bahrain.

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