STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford senior Josh Sharma has been selected to play in the USA Basketball 3x3 National Championship.
The tournament features 15 teams competing May 3-4 at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center. The event will also serve as the 2019 USA Basketball Men's 3x3 National Team trials, as all eligible athletes will be in consideration for selection to the 2019 USA Men's 3x3 World Cup and 2019 USA Men's 2019 U.S. Pan American Games 3x3 Basketball teams.
The USA 3x3 Nationals will tip-off with preliminary games from 3-10:30 p.m. on Friday. The preliminary round will continue from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Saturday, and, after teams are seeded based on preliminary records, the knockout round will begin at 5:40 p.m. The championship game, which will be streamed live online at usab.com/live, is set to tip at 10:20 p.m.
Sharma is part of the 3Ball California entry, which also includes Olin Carter III of San Diego, Henry Caruso of Santa Clara and Frankie Ferrari of San Francisco.
The Cardinal senior also played in the NABC College All-Star Game and the 3x3 competition at the Final Four earlier this month.
The center, who was a candidate for the Pac-12's Most Improved Player Award, established a school record for field goal percentage in a season. His mark of .673 was not only a program record, it was the eighth-best field goal percentage in a season in Pac-12 history. Sharma completed his standout career eighth on Stanford's field goal percentage list, shooting .563 for his career.
Sharma was an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention selection as a senior, after finishing the year as the conference's field goal percentage leader and ranking in the top-10 in the league in offensive rebounds (3rd, 2.6 orpg), blocks (7th, 1.4 bpg) and rebounds (9th, 7.1 rpg). He averaged 11.3 ppg and 8.2 rpg during Pac-12 play, posting double-doubles in five of his final seven games. Sharma averaged 14.7 ppg and 11.1 rpg over those final seven contests.
Olympic fans will see the launch of a new basketball discipline with the inclusion of 3x3 in 2020. The exciting and fast-paced game officially was unveiled in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and has since become a fan favorite at FIBA 3x3 World Cup events. Played on a half court with a 10-minute clock, and a 12-second shot clock, the first team to 21 points, or the team in the lead at the end of regulation, is the winner.
Held annually since 2012, this year marks the eighth edition of the USA Basketball 3x3 National Championships, and the first time the nationals will be held outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado. At the international level, USA Basketball has been represented by at least one national team in every FIBA 3x3 World Cup, FIBA 3x3 U18 World Cup and Youth Olympic Games held since 2010.