This year's U.S. 3x3 women's basketball team is one of 14 U.S. Olympic teams to achieve a roster completely made up of NCAA athletes. As the Olympic Games begin in Paris, the NCAA's presence on Team USA is massive, with current, former or incoming student-athletes making up 65% of the 592 team members. This team of four represents six different NCAA schools.
Meet the Team
- Cierra Burdick (Tennessee).
- Dearica Hamby (Wake Forest).
- Rhyne Howard (Kentucky).
- Hailey Van Lith (Louisville, LSU and TCU).
NCAA Connections
Each of the 3x3 women's basketball players has seen great success at the NCAA Division I level. These achievements range from Associated Press All-America accolades to Student-Athlete of the Year for their respective schools.
Rhyne Howard leads the pack as a three-time AP first-team All-American, along with being a two-time Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
Hamby, who earned All-America honors, was Wake Forest's Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 2015 and set school records for all-time scoring and rebounding.
Burdick earned both Academic All-America and All-America honors during her four seasons at Tennessee.
Van Lith, who announced in the spring that she was transferring to TCU as a grad student for the upcoming college season, earned All-America honors at Louisville and will be the first American since 1988 to play basketball at the Olympics as a current NCAA athlete.
Howard said her NCAA experience helped prepare her for the WNBA and other professional opportunities.
"It just prepared me because teams were throwing their best defenders at me," the Kentucky grad said. "Being able to go through that (facing the best defenders in the NCAA) for four years before I got to the league, I feel like it definitely helped me prepare."
The 3x3 players hail from three NCAA conferences: the SEC, Atlanta Coast Conference and the Big 12 Conference.
Olympic/international experience
All four members will be competing in their first Olympic Games, looking to bring home the gold.
Though not Olympic veterans, Van Lith and Burdick were part of the FIBA World Cup 3x3 gold medal team last year in 2023. In the same year, Dearica Hamby helped win the gold in the 3x3 FIBA AmeriCup.
In 2021, Burdick won the 3x3 FIBA AmeriCup gold medal, and Howard helped lead the 5-on-5 FIBA AmeriCup team to gold.
Tune In
Peacock will be streaming all the U.S. 3x3 women's basketball team games. Certain games will be available on NBC, E!, USA and CNBC. View the broadcast schedule here.
U.S. 3x3 women's basketball team schedule (all times are Eastern):
- 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 30 — USA vs. Germany.
- 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 31 — USA vs Azerbaijan.
- 7 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 1 — USA vs Australia.
- 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 1 — USA vs Spain.
- 7 a.m. Friday, Aug. 2 — USA vs France.
- Noon Friday, Aug. 2 — USA vs Canada.
- 1:05 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3 — USA vs China.
The semifinals and finals will be Aug. 5, with the gold medal game streaming on Peacock and NBC at 4:05 p.m.
