Desert Pro-Am Takes Inaugural USA Basketball Men’s 3x3 National Team Tournament, Women’s Title Claimed By Team Of Collegiate Standouts
3x3 teams gathered at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) to determine who would be selected to represent the USA Basketball at the 2012 FIBA 3x3 World Championship. The event
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opened on July 6 with a skills chal- lenge, featuring a 3-point shootout, obstacle challenge and team hotshot (two-player shoot- ing competition), followed by the start of pool play for the men’s tournament. The men’s tourna- ment continued on July 7 with pool play and the quar- terfinals before the semifinals and finals concluded the tournament on July 8. The women’s tourna- ment was held entirely on July 8. Following conclusion of the tourna-
ment, four men and four women players were selected to represent USA Basketball at the FIBA 3x3 World Championship. The player selections were chosen by the 2012 USA Basketball 3x3 National Team Committee The 2012 USA Basketball 3x3 National Team Committee consists of Johnson, as well as Washington Wizards Vice President of Player Personnel Milt Newton and Deer Lakes High School (Cheswick, Penn.) boys basketball head coach Joe Lewandowski. Of the 11 men’s teams participating
in the USA 3x3 National Tournament, six were invited to Colorado Springs after competing in various Hoop It Up 3x3 tournaments across the country; three were invited from the USA Basketball 3x3 Qualifying Tournament at
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he first USA Basketball 3x3 Men’s National Tournament was held July 6-8 as 11 men’s
the University of Denver on June 24; one team was invited from NBA Nation in Los Angeles, Calif.; and one team was invited from the Desert Classic Pro-Am League in Phoenix, Ariz. “The goal of this weekend was to
evaluate the 11 teams invited to perform at the first ever USA Basketball 3x3
advanced to the semifinals after besting ATO 21-11 in the quarterfinals. The top-seed out of Pool B, Desert
Pro-Am, beat Juggernauts 20-17 after going 5-0 in pool play, and the University of Denver beat Washington Park 21-15 to move on. The semifinals on July 8 featured a pair of down-to-the- wire contests. Castle Rock stayed perfect after nipping Team Denver 21-20, and Desert Pro-Am remained perfect as well after bat-
tling to a 15-14 win over University of Denver.
Desert Pro-Am
After winning the USA Basketball 3x3 National Tournament, members of the Desert Pro-Am team posed for a photo. (L-R) Joseph Fritz, athletic trainer; Travis Johnson, USA Basketball; Ira Brown, Tyree Hardge, Allen DuBois Williams, Adetayo Adesanya, Joseph Lewandowski, team consultant; Milt Newton, USA Basketball 3x3 National Team Committee member.
Tournament and select the strongest overall team to represent USA Basketball at the FIBA 3x3 World Championship,” said USA Basketball 3x3 Program Director Travis Johnson. Men’s pool play opened on July 6
and featured the first two of five rounds of games. Through the first two rounds, Castle Rock and ATO (Philadelphia Hoop It Up) led Pool A with 2-0 records, while both Team Denver (Denver Hoop It Up) and Desert Pro-Am (Desert Classic Pro-Am League in Phoenix, Ariz.) lead Pool B at 2-0. Resuming Pool play on July 7, pool
play was completed and four teams remained in gold medal contention and advanced to the semifinals. Castle Rock, which defeated ATO
21-13 to finish 4-0 to earn the top-seed out of Pool A, defeated Advantage 20-15 in the quarterfinals. Team Denver
defeated Castle Rock 21-10 in the men’s gold medal game to finish the tournament with an 8-0 record. Hardge led the way for Desert Pro-Am with 12 points, hitting 5- of-6 shots from
beyond the arc and 7-of-8 shots overall. Team Denver earned the bronze medal nipping University of Denver 20-19. “My teammates believed in me and
kept giving me opportunities to shoot, so that’s what I did,” Hardge said of his on- fire performance in the title game. The four players from Desert Pro-
Am became familiar with one another by playing in different leagues and gyms in the Phoenix, Ariz. area before competing in the Desert Pro-Am League in Phoenix to earn an invitation to the 2012 USA Basketball 3x3 Training Camp/Tournament. The four members of Desert Pro-Am
- Adetayo Adesanya (Naperville, Ill.), Ira Brown (Corsicana, Texas), Tyree Hardge (Surprise, Ariz.) and Allen DuBois Williams (Tempe, Ariz.), were later selected to the 2012 USA Basketball 3x3 National Team.
USA Basketball News
Cole Mickleson/USA Basketball
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