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Jonathan Tavernari's summer just got a lot more interesting.
Just a few weeks ago, Tavernari was invited to play with the Brazilian team that will compete in the South American Championships next week in Chile. That team is considered Brazil's "junior" national team, while the "senior" squad prepares to qualify for the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing.
A week after reporting to camp, Tavernari was "called up" to the pre-Olympic team, with injuries to NBAers Nene, Anderson Varejao and Leandro Barbosa (along with other non-NBA players) having created numerous vacancies on the team.
Tavernari, former BYU Cougar Rafael Araujo and the rest of the 12-man squad is training in Rio, with two exhibition games against Venezuela scheduled for later this week (Thursday and Friday). The games are tuneups for Brazil's Olympig qualifying run in Athens in mid-July, with 12 teams competing for the last 3 available spots in Beijing. Brazil will face Lebanon and Greece in group play, with the first and second place teams advancing to the quarter-finals. The two semifinal winners qualify for Beijing, along with the winner of the 3rd place game in Athens.
Once again using my rusty Portuguese translation skills, I have gleaned the following from the Brazilian national team website.
From JT:
"I have the opportunity to train with the best players in the country. To complete the triple crown (having already called up to two national teams), all that's left is to win a qualifying spot and compete in the Beijing Olympics. It would be a dream come true to play in the Olympics at 21 years of age."
"The work is going well. (National team coach) Moncho (Monsalve) has a style much like my coach at BYU, with strong defense and fast transition play. It helps me a lot that he speaks English. I've been very Americanized, and communicating in English has helped me with the senior team. I'm taking advantage of this opportunity, and I will do all I can to help the team."
Tavernari is being counted on as a versatile wing player on the Brazilian squad, and the exhibition games later this week are being seen as chances to get inexperienced players like JT some floor time at an international level prior to the qualifying tournament in Athens.
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Suffice it to say, Tavernari's international adventures this summer can only pay dividends for BYU in the fall and winter, with a potential Olympian joining the reigning conference "Co-Player of the Year" in the Cougars' starting five.
