When the Olympic Games take place in Paris beginning this month, the NCAA's presence on Team USA will be massive, with current, former or incoming student-athletes making up 75% of the 592 team members.
At least 80% of the members of 21 Team USA teams feature current, former or incoming college athletes, including 14 that are made up exclusively of NCAA athletes. Team USA's men's beach volleyball roster is among that group, with all four players having NCAA experience, though none competed in beach volleyball collegiately, and one member didn't play volleyball at all in college.
Meet the team
- Miles Evans (UC Santa Barbara, indoor volleyball).
- Chase Budinger (Arizona, basketball).
- Andy Benesh (Southern California, indoor volleyball).
- Miles Partain (UCLA, indoor volleyball).
NCAA connections
All four men played college sports. Benesh and Partain played indoor volleyball at Southern California and UCLA, respectively. Evans played indoor volleyball at UC Santa Barbara, graduating with a degree in sociology, while Budinger was a basketball star for Arizona and later played in the NBA, though he was a nationally known indoor volleyball player in high school.
"Most guys, when they finish a sport, they're kind of confused, or they're kind of lost for the next journey or whatever life takes them next," he said on the Sandcast volleyball podcast in 2018. "I was lucky enough to just transition into a different sport immediately and play at the highest level."
Budinger started for Arizona's basketball team for three seasons, averaging 18 points and six rebounds as a senior and leading his team to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.
For his part, Partain stepped away from UCLA's men's volleyball team in 2023 to pursue his Olympic dream. In 2022, his last full season with UCLA, he was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year and was a first team National Volleyball Association/American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America selection, in addition to being named UCLA Male Athlete of the Year by the Daily Bruin.
He is partnered with Benesh, who graduated from Southern California in 2017 with a degree in communications and started on the men's indoor team all four years.
International experience
Both duos finished in the top 17 of the men's FIVB Olympic rankings (Benesh/Partain were fourth and Budinger/Evans tied for 13th).
Benesh, 29, and Partain, 22, will be the youngest U.S. men's beach volleyball team since the sport debuted in 1996. Partain is the youngest U.S. player in the sport in Olympic history.
In their international debut in the spring of 2023, Benesh and Partain finished third. The next tournament, they won. Between those two events, they beat each of the world's current top three teams (one via retirement from a set ahead). They defeated Tokyo Olympic gold medalists Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway twice in one tournament, coming from a set down each time.
Budinger, 36, and Evans, 34, are headed to their first Olympics. They clinched the spot by rising high enough in the international rankings in the last month of the race for the second and final U.S. men's spot in Paris.
Budinger began playing pro beach volleyball in 2018 and had five partners before teaming with Evans starting with the 2023 season. Budinger and Evans each won on the domestic AVP tour with different partners before teaming up. Internationally, each player's best results have come since they joined forces last year.
Tune in
The men's beach volleyball competition runs July 27-Aug. 10 at Eiffel Tower Stadium. Matches will be broadcast on NBC, USA Network, Telemundo, Universo or E! or streamed on Peacock. The men's gold medal final will stream on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 10.
Team USA has won three Olympic golds and one silver medal in men's beach volleyball in its history.
