Seb and Jillian still in the running

Stanford alumnae hoopsters Sebnem Kimyacioglu ('05) and Jillian Harmon ('09) are prospective 2016 Olympians.

Seb is a member of the Turkish Women's National Team (probably, they still have to cut down from 14 to 12 players). This is Seb's first chance to be an Olympian. The Turkish Women's National Team competed in the 2012 Olympics, but Seb had left basketball to pursue a law degree at Santa Clara University.

Jillian is a member of the Tall Ferns, the New Zealand Women's National Team. This is Jillian's third go at the Olympics. The Tall Ferns (including Clare Bodensteiner, as well as Jillian) competed in the 2008 Olympics, where they ended with a loss to the U.S. in the premlinary round. The Tall Ferns competed for a spot in the 2012 Olympics, but didn't make it past the qualifying tournament.

Seven teams have already qualified for the 2016 Olympics (see Who's In). Turkey and New Zealand are two of the twelve teams that will compete in the Women's Olympics Qualifying Tournament for the remaining five spots in Nantes, France next week (see WOQT Schedule).

The twelve contending teams have spent the past couple of weeks preparing for the WOQT by playing in friendly tournaments. Wins have been thin for the Tall Ferns. Here's a report of their final friendly game from stuff.co.nz: NZ Tall Ferns wind up Olympic qualifying buildup with defeat to Spain.

Turkey has apparently been playing well, although there are no very coherent (to a non-Turk) game reports. Instead, here's an interview with Seb about her return to the Turkish National Team and her dream of playing in the Olympics (access with Chrome for an adequate translation).

Today three FIBA journalists offered their opinions about what's going to take place in Nantes next week: Which five WOQT teams will reach Rio 2016?