Valkyries’ guard Veronica Burton will represent USA Basketball in the 2026 FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup in Bangkok from March 13-15. The U.S. women will make their debut in the event’s second iteration, while the men competed in the event’s debut last year. The American teams qualified for the 3×3 Champions Cup by virtue of winning the 2025 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup last November in Leon, Mexico. The 2026 USA 3×3 Women’s Champions Cup Team comprises Veronica Burton, Shakira Austin, Allisha Gray and Naz Hillmon, who played together and won the gold medal at the 2025 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup.
The women’s team features 2020 Olympic champion Gray, who made her return to the national team stage in November. She is joined by Burton, who is a 2022 FIBA 3×3 U23 World Cup silver medalist and 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup bronze medalist. Austin, who has attended previous USA Basketball 3×3 development camps, and Hilmon made their USA 3×3 national team debuts at the 3×3 AmeriCup. All four have USA 5-on-5 experience with Austin winning a gold medal at the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup and Burton most recently participating in the December 2025 USA Women’s National Team training camp.
The women tip off Pool A on March 13 with Madagascar (10:20 a.m. ET) followed by matchups with Netherlands (7:30 a.m. ET) and Australia (9:30 a.m. ET) on March 14. The men have a pair of Pool B games on March 13 against Netherlands (7:30 a.m. ET) and Madagascar (9:30 a.m. ET), with their final pool contest vs. Australia on March 14 (10:30 a.m. ET). Following pool play, the top two teams from each of the two four-team pools advance to the semifinals. The women’s semis are scheduled for March 14 with the women’s finals and men’s semis and finals on March 15. The full schedule is here.
The FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup features eight teams per gender, including continental champions, World Cup winners, top-ranked nations and hosts Thailand. The winners of the 2026 FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup will secure direct qualification to the 2027 FIBA 3×3 World Cup, 2027 FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup and the Cups-based Olympic Qualification Tournament in 2028.
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