2012 FIBA 3X3 U18 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP “Both of our 3x3 U18
USA Women Claim FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship, Men Show Improvement With Silver Medal Finish
teams made tremendous progress as was shown by our women winning the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship gold medal and our men improving from 8th in 2011 to a silver medal finish in 2012.”
Travis Johnson USA Basketball
3x3 Program Director
The foursome of (L-R) Kaela Davis, Diamond DeShields, Erica McCall and Brianna Turner played their way to a gold medal showing at the 2012 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship in Alcobendas, Spain.
and women’s 3x3 teams both medaled. Closing out USA Basketball’s 2012
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competition schedule with the 2012 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship in Alcobendas, Spain, the United States women claimed the gold medal, while the American men collected the silver medal and earned the United States’ first medal in a 3x3 men’s competition. The golden USA 3x3 women’s team
featured: Kaela Davis (Buford H.S./ Suwanee, Ga.), Diamond DeShields (Norcross H.S./Norcross, Ga.), Erica McCall (Ridgeview H.S./Bakersfield, Calif.) and Brianna Turner (Manvel H.S./ Pearland, Texas). Davis also competed in the 2011
FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship, and returned to the U.S. with an honorary bronze medal. The USA fell in the 2011 semifinal contest after playing with two athletes for the majority of the game, which went into overtime, and then was unable to field three healthy players as
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or the first time since inter-national 3x3 competitions began in 2010, the USA men’s
required for the bronze medal contest. Prior to the 3x3 U18s, Davis,
DeShields, McCall and Turner helped the USA to a gold medal and perfect, 8-0 record Aug. 17-26 at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and DeShields was named MVP of the tournament. DeShields has also won gold medals with USA Basketball’s 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship Team and 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship Team; while Davis and McCall won gold at the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. Completing for the silver medalist
men’s team were: Larry Austin (Lanphier H.S./Springfield, Ill.), Brett Brady (Highlands Ranch H.S./Highlands Ranch, Colo.), DeMonte Flannigan (Villa Angela-St. Joseph H.S. /Richmond Heights, Ohio) and Rondaé Hollis- Jefferson (Chester H.S./Chester, Pa.). Austin, Flannigan and Hollis-
Jefferson played on Team Bulldogs, which won the 2012 USA Basketball 3x3 U18 Men’s National Tournament with an
8-0 record and were selected as members of the U18 3x3 National Team. Brady competed for Team TCI at the tournament and earned the fourth and final roster spot on the U.S. 3x3 squad. Austin, Flannigan and Hollis-
Jefferson also were members of the 2011-12 USA Basketball Men’s Developmental National Team, and attended USA training camps. Hollis-Jefferson was the only
member with prior USA 3x3 experience after having been a member of the 2011 USA Basketball 3x3 Youth World Championship Team that went 7-5 and finished in eighth-place at the inaugural FIBA 3x3 Youth World Championship, which is now named the FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championship. Austin was a member of the 2011 USA FIBA Americas U16 Championship Team that won gold in Cancun, Mexico. The 2012 FIBA 3x3 U18 World
Championship for Men featured 32 teams divided into four groups of eight, while the women’s tournament featured 24 nations divided into four groups of six.
Following round-robin preliminary
play, the top team from each group earned a berth into the quarterfinals, while the No. 2 and No. 3 finishing teams played one game to advance four teams to the quarterfinals. From there,