November 25, 2025
What to expect from USA Basketball at the FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup
Allisha Gray returns to 3x3 for first time since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Team USA will attempt to reclaim its position atop the podium at the FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup, which will run from Thursday through Sunday in León, Mexico. The Americans won the inaugural event in 2021, then again over Brazil dramatically in 2023, before falling to Canada by one point in overtime last year.
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WNBA players Shakira Austin, Veronica Burton, Allisha Gray, and Naz Hillmon will compose the U.S. team, with Christina Batastini as coach. In 2024, Batastini guided both the FIBA 3×3 Nations League team and Under-23 World Cup team to championships.
“I like our team a lot,” Batastini said. “It’s a really talented group of players, all with WNBA experience. I think we have the right combination of three-point shooters, rebounders, defenders and pure scorers that will give us a good chance to bring home the gold again.”
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She noted that in 3×3, those four categories she listed are vital, and she’ll look for three out of the four players to be proficient from long-distance. Batastini, who played at Stanford and coached at Brown, currently coaches prep school in St. Andrew’s in Rhode Island, where her daughter is a junior. Her prep school team practices 3×3 rules in practice.
“I am going into my fourth year of coaching 3×3 with USA Basketball,” Batastini continued. “I feel like my experience of how I came along was at the proper pace. I started out as a court coach with the gold-medal winning World Cup team in 2023. I did some U23 Nations League and a few Women’s Series that same summer. Then, being named the U23 national team coach and winning the gold in Mongolia last fall, I feel like I am at a point in my experience that it made sense for this to be the next step coaching-wise.”
A mix of different experiences
Batastini said she worked with Austin last spring in the national team training camp. She added that it helped her mindset, working with WNBA players for the first time. Austin, who won a gold medal in 5-on-5 at the 2022 FIBA World Cup, is playing 3×3 competitively for the first time, as is Hillmon. Burton won a bronze medal in this event in 2022, as well as a silver in the 3×3 U23 World Cup the same year.
For Gray, this marks her return to the sport. The Atlanta Dream guard was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where the sport debuted. She said a recent conversation with recently-named managing director Elena Delle Donne convinced her to play.
“It’s nice to get back in the game,” said Gray. “I always felt that [3×3] was the event for me. I feel so free. It really helps my game a lot, from an offensive standpoint and a defensive standpoint. From an offensive standpoint, you have to create your own shot. From a defensive standpoint, you have to lock in because you are on an island with no help defense.”
Total field of 14 teams
Brazil and Jamaica are the other teams in the USA’s pool. The Canadian team of Jade Belmore, Paige Crozon, Katherine Plouffe, and Merissah Melanie Russell is the top seed. Canada will face the Cayman Islands and Dominican Republic in Pool A. Crozon was the MVP of the 2024 tournament and teamed with Plouffe to win the 3×3 Women’s Series Final at Shanghai in September.
“Canada played really well in the Women’s Series this summer and ended up winning the entire thing,” Batastini said. “They are a skillful and high basketball IQ team that has played together for a long time and really understands the nuances of the game. Brazil is very athletic and highly experienced. With the nature of 3×3, it’s a short game. So, if you get off to a slow start, it’s a dangerous game.”
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In addition, Puerto Rico and Mexico are in Pool C, and Chile and Argentina are in Pool D. Uruguay, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Paraguay are in a qualifying playoff to join those pools. The top two teams in each pool advance to the quarterfinals.
“We have to be disciplined and commit to the defensive side of the ball,” Batastini added. “Offensively, we have that talent. These competitions are always difficult. We have to be prepared. 3×3 relies heavily on offensive actions, and if the game devolves into one-on-one play, it doesn’t help your cause. I think our offensive players are so talented that if the game does break down, I am confident, they’ll figure out how to score.”
Written by Scott Mammoser
Scott Mammoser covered the Paris 2024 Olympics for The IX Basketball. He has also covered major international events for FIBA, World Athletics and the International Skating Union. He has attended six other Olympics and traveled to more than 100 countries.
