Alex Roux, BTN.com editor, June 9, 2017
Praise be to the basketball gods.
The International Olympic Committee announced Friday that 3-on-3 basketball will officially be added to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which immediately made everyone's hoops imaginations run wild pondering the possible trios that could form a gold medal-winning group. The qualification system is yet to be announced, but just for fun, I brainstormed who each Big Ten basketball team would send if the Tokyo Games began today.
Olympics add 3-on-3 basketball, mixed-gender swimming, track eventshttps://t.co/DT6QFungXH pic.twitter.com/M0O2ERkUim
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 9, 2017
I had to leave some extremely talented players off these teams for the sake of lineup balance, figuring that each team would need a big body to snatch up rebounds and occupy space down low. That could end up being a stupid strategy, but since 3-on-3 basketball hasn't really been played yet on a major stage, we just don't know. Tweet me if you disagree with any of my picks.
I'll leave the debate of which team below would be the conference's best up to the fans, but those are my guys and I'm sticking with them.
Illinois: Mark Smith, Mark Alstork, Leron Black
Indiana: Robert Johnson, De'Ron Davis, Juwan Morgan
Iowa: Jordan Bohannon, Nicholas Baer, Tyler Cook
Maryland: Anthony Cowan, Kevin Huerter, Justin Jackson
Michigan: Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman, Moe Wagner, Charles Matthews
Michigan State: Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson, Cassius Winston
Minnesota: Nate Mason, Amir Coffey, Reggie Lynch
Nebraska: Glynn Watson, Thomas Allen, Jordy Tshimanga
Northwestern: Bryant McIntosh, Scottie Lindsey, Dererk Pardon
Ohio State: Kam Williams, Jae'Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop
Penn State: Tony Carr, Lamar Stevens, Mike Watkins
Purdue: Dakota Mathias, Vince Edwards, Isaac Haas
Rutgers: Corey Sanders, Deshawn Freeman, Candido Sa
Wisconsin: Ethan Happ, D'Mitrik Trice, Khalil Iverson