Roster Announced for USA Basketball 3x3 AmeriCup Men’s Team
Ahead of the inaugural Nov. 12-14 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup, USA Basketball today announced its roster for the 2021 USA 3x3 AmeriCup Men’s Team, which features: Trey Bardsley (Nebraska Wesleyan/Beatrice, Neb.), Canyon Barry (Iowa Wolves/Florida/Colorado Springs, Colo.), Charlie Brown Jr. (Iowa Wolves/Saint Joseph’s/Philadelphia, Pa.) and Kareem Maddox (Princeton/Los Angeles, Calif.).
The USA will begin training camp on Nov. 7 in Miami, where the 2021 FIBA AmeriCup will be played from Nov. 12-14. The U.S. women’s roster is expected to be announced next week.
Joe Lewandowski (Point Park University), who has been coaching/advising USA Basketball 3x3 national teams since 2014, will serve as head coach.
Bardsley helped his team, 3Ball Omaha, to a 6-0 record and the tournament title at the 2021 Red Bull USA Basketball 3X Nationals, and he was named MVP of the tournament after hitting the game-winning shot in the title game.
Barry and Maddox helped the USA to its first gold medal at the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in 2019, and both were members of the 2021 USA 3x3 Men’s National Team. Due to injury, however, Barry was not able to participate in the 2021 FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where Maddox and the USA finished 3-2.
Maddox also collected gold at the inaugural Pan American Games 3x3 competition in Peru in 2019 and was named MVP as his team won the 2018 USA Basketball 3x3 National Championship.
Brown, who was named to his first USA Basketball team, played in 10 games in 2019-20 with the Atlanta Hawks and in nine games in 2020-21 with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 2021 FIBA 3x3 AmeriCup will feature a qualifying round that includes nine teams, and three teams will advance from that field.
The USA will play in Group A, opening against Mexico at 3:15 p.m. (all times listed are EST) on Nov. 12, followed by Venezuela at 7:05 p.m.
Playing in Group B are Argentina, Canada, and the advancing team from the group of Haiti, Jamaica and Uruguay. Group C consists of Brazil, Chili and nation that qualifies from the three-nation group of Aruba, Barbados and Guatemala. Pool D consists of Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the top nation that advances out of qualifying play from a group that comprises Guyana, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.
The medal round will be contested on Nov. 14, with the top two teams from each of the four preliminary round groups competing in quarterfinal action with games tipping at 8:50 a.m., 9:15 a.m., 10:50 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Semifinal games are scheduled for 1:05 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. The bronze medal game will begin at 2:30 p.m. and the gold medal contest tips at 3:30 p.m. The gold medalist will earn a qualifying berth into the 2022 FIBA 3x3 World Cup.