By Jimmer Fredette just made history — again.
The former BYU basketball star has been selected for USA Basketball’s first-ever 3×3 Olympic team and will take part in this summer’s Paris Games.
Fredette, the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year in 2011, has emerged as one of the top performers in the 3×3 sphere, earning USA Basketball’s 3×3 Male Athlete of the Year honors for 2023.
“He’s the best 3×3 player ever to play the game, in my opinion,” USA 3×3 Men’s National Team coach Joe Lewandowski said in December. “He is that good.”
Fredette’s USA squad captured gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, enabling the U.S. to automatically qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Team USA also earned a silver medal in last year’s FIBA 2023 World Cup, with Fredette leading the team and tournament as a whole in scoring with 59 total points.
The other selected members of Team USA are Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis, all of whom have played with Fredette since the group’s gold medal performance at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Men’s AmeriCup.
Should Team USA finish among the top three groups in Paris, Fredette would be just the eighth BYU athlete to ever win an Olympic medal.
The format for 3×3 basketball is unique. Matches are played half court with a 12-second shot clock and scoring by ones and twos. The first team to 21 points — or whoever is leading after 10 minutes — is victorious.
