Basketball
Valparaiso High, Purdue graduate earns MVP
as Team USA wins at
FIBA 3x3 World Cup
And they didn’t stop until becoming world champions.
Team USA topped Latvia 18-14 on Sunday to win the gold medal, with Valparaiso High School and Purdue graduate Hummel named tournament MVP.
The 6-foot-8 forward scored 46 points, the third-highest total in the event, as the U.S. completed an undefeated seven-game run for its first gold medal in the sixth edition of the World Cup. Its only other medal was silver in 2016.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Hummel said after returning from the Netherlands. “If you would’ve told me two years ago, the only champion I might’ve been was in the rec league at Hamlin Park in Chicago, not world champs of 3x3.
“It’s pretty crazy. But my whole career has been pretty crazy, up and down. So why not something this random?”
Hummel, Canyon Barry, Damon Huffman and Kareem Maddox broke through for the U.S.
Hummel, in his second season playing on the 3x3 World Tour, also is teammates with Huffman and Maddox on Ariel Slow & Steady, which won the USA Basketball 3x3 Nationals in early May in Las Vegas. Hummel, who also has spent the last two seasons as a game and studio analyst for the Big Ten Network and ESPN, also was MVP of that tournament.
The world championship is another step for Hummel toward earning a spot for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, when 3x3 makes its debut.
There still are hurdles to clear to reach the Olympics, both for the U.S. and Hummel, No. 30 in FIBA’s 3x3 individual world rankings and No. 3 among Americans. But it certainly has been on his mind.
“It’s still a ways away, but for the USA and the group of guys we had in Amsterdam, it was a dream start,” Hummel said. “There are still things that have to happen for us to qualify, but this group showed we’re a cohesive, athletic and skilled unit.
“There’s still a lot of basketball to be played and decisions to be made. But I feel really good about it.”
Hummel, who turned 30 in March, won a bronze medal with the U.S. at the 2009 World University Games.
His second experience representing the country netted gold.
The U.S. entered the World Cup as the No. 7 seed, but was the only team to go undefeated through the four-game pool play. It closed preliminaries with a win over host Netherlands, the World Cup silver medalist in both 2017 and 2018.
The U.S. beat No. 3 seed and 2018 bronze medalist Slovenia in the quarterfinals, and Poland, the fourth-place finisher in 2018, in the semifinals.
No. 4 seed Latvia defeated Serbia, which won four of the first five FIBA 3x3 world championships, in the semis.
“I was fortunate to play in the World University Games and that always stuck with me,” Hummel said. “I felt like I had a little unfinished business. We were favored to win the gold in Belgrade and Serbia won it, so to start with them this time, it was fitting.
“We went through the big dogs. That’s what you have to do to win these international events. Representing the U.S. and beating those guys was so much fun.”
Hummel retired following the 2016-17 season in Russia after playing two seasons in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves and one each in Spain and Italy.
Former Northwestern guard Craig Moore got Hummel involved in 3x3. Moore told Hummel he was too young to stop playing completely. Hummel hesitated, but eventually got on board with the growing sport, which also has a schedule that meshes with his burgeoning broadcasting career.
“You’re playing basketball for fun, with your friends and, with the international stuff, for your country,” Hummel said. “It’s everything playing overseas for a year wasn’t. It’s a few days with these tournaments — you travel, see cool things and compete.”
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
