July 12, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A former Purdue track and field All-American and Big Ten Champion has earned a spot on the 2012 USA Men's Basketball 3x3 National Team. Adetayo Adesanya will represent the USA at the first ever FIBA 3x3 World Championship in Athens, Greece.
While at Purdue, Adesanya was a regular scorer in the high jump, long jump, and triple jump at the conference meet. During his sophomore year in 2008, the Naperville, Ill., native won the Big Ten Indoor Championship in the high jump after clearing 2.14m (7-00.25). That spring, he earned the silver medal in the same event at the Big Ten Outdoor Championship. In his junior year, Adesanya picked up a bronze medal in the outdoor conference meet in the high jump. That was good enough to qualify him for the NCAA Championships where he earned All-America honors after finishing fifth.
Adesanya will be joined by Ira Brown (Corsicana, Texas), Tyree Hardge (Surprise, Ariz.), and Allen DuBois Williams (Tempe, Ariz.). The four were selected to the team after playing for Desert Pro-Am where they won the men's tournament with a perfect 8-0 record.
The men's team will compete alongside the USA women's team in Athens from Aug. 23-26. The women's team is made up of all current NCAA women's basketball stars. Skylar Diggins of the University of Notre Dame will join Bria Hartley of Connecticut, Chiney Ogwumike of Stanford University, and Alyssa Thomas of the University of Maryland to vie for the world title. The teams will train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center from Aug. 17-20 before heading to Greece.