USA Basketball

USA Basketball was organized in 1974 and is known as the Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA). The name change to USA Basketball occurred on Oct. 12, 1989, shortly after FIBA modified its rules to allow professional basketball players to participate in international competitions. USA Basketball then admitted the NBA as an active member and made the change.

A 12-member Board of Directors governs USA Basketball. Retired General Martin E. Dempsey, the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was elected USA Basketball Chairman for the 2017-20 quadrennium. Also members of the Board of Directors are NBA appointees Kim Bohuny, NBA Senior Vice President, International Basketball Operations; and Mark Tatum, NBA Deputy Commissioner, and Chief Operating Officer; NCAA appointees Dan Gavitt, NCAA Senior Vice President/Basketball; Bernard Muir, Stanford University’s Director of Athletics; and Chris Plonsky, University of Texas Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff; scholastic representative Bob Gardner, Executive Director, National Federation of State High School Associations; national organizations representative Jim Carr, NAIA President and Chief Executive Director; at-large representative Michele Roberts, NBPA Executive Director; and athlete representatives Chauncey Billups, 2010 World Championship gold medalist, and three-time Olympic gold medalist Katie Smith. Jerry Colangelo, USA Basketball Men’s National Team Managing Director, rounds out the board and serves in an ex officio capacity as past chairman.

Serving since January 2001 as CEO is Jim Tooley, who has been with USA Basketball since 1993. From 2014 through 2018, 2,818 men and women players and 299 coaches participated in USA Basketball. USA Basketball men’s and women’s teams between 2017-19 compiled a spectacular 194-20 win-loss record in FIBA and FIBA Americas events, the Pan American Games, World University Games, and the Nike Hoop Summit. Additionally, USA 3×3 teams have posted a 58-9 win-loss record in official FIBA and FIBA Americas 3×3 competitions. USA Basketball ranks No. 1 in all five of FIBA’s world ranking categories, including combined, men’s, women’s, boys, and girls.

Competitions in which USA teams regularly compete include the Olympics, FIBA Basketball World Cups, FIBA Americas Championships, Pan American Games, FIBA U19 and U17 World Cups, FIBA Americas U18 and U16 Championships, the Nike Hoop Summit, Youth Olympic Games, FIBA 3×3 World Cups and FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cups.

The USA Basketball Youth & Sports Development division is tasked with the development of youth basketball initiatives that address player development, coach education, and safety while promoting, growing, and elevating the game. Current USA Basketball youth initiatives include coach licensing and education; coach academies; regional camps; youth clinics; open court programs; Women in the Game conferences; and the U.S. Open Basketball Championships.

USA Basketball also sanctions U.S. basketball team tours of foreign countries and foreign basketball team tours of the U.S., as well as oversees the certification of FIBA and USA Basketball officials and the assignment of those officials to international competitions, and the licensing of players to play professionally overseas.

A brief synopsis of the various competitions in which USA Basketball teams participate includes:

Olympic Games
Men’s and women’s Olympic basketball competition is held every four years (2020, 2024, etc.). For a third consecutive Olympics, the USA captured double gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics with both the men’s and women’s teams compiling unblemished 8-0 records. The USA men have captured the gold in 15 of the 18 Olympics in which they have competed and compiled an incredible 138-5 record. The USA women have earned the gold in six consecutive Olympics and boast of a sterling 58-3 record. The Summer Olympic Games will be held July 23-August 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.

FIBA World Cup
The FIBA Basketball World Cup, known from 1950 until 2010 as the FIBA World Championship of Men, and from 1953-2014 the FIBA World Championship for Women, is the flagship event of FIBA competitions. Held every four years, the USA women in 2018 claimed a third-straight FIBA World Cup while the men have won gold at two of the last three FIBA World Cups (2010 and 2014). The next FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup is scheduled to be held in 2022, while the next FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup will be held in 2023 in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia.

Pan American Games
Started in 1951 for men and 1955 for women, the Pan American Games are held every four years (2019, 2023, etc.) in the year preceding the Olympics. Countries from FIBA Americas are eligible to compete. The USA men have a 90-17 overall record, winning eight of a possible 17 gold medals, while the USA women have won seven of 16 gold medals, including 2007, and own an 82-16 record. The 2023 Pan American Games will be held in Santiago, Chile.

U19 / U18 Championships
USA Basketball also fields men’s and women’s national teams for players 19 years old or younger. FIBA now holds U19 World Cups every two years (2021, 2023, etc.). In 2019 the USA men finished 7-0 to win the gold medal, and the USA women also compiled a 7-0 record to claim the gold medal. USA Basketball also fields teams featuring players 18-years-old or younger for FIBA Americas zone U18 qualifying tournaments that are scheduled to be held in 2022, 2024, etc. The USA men and women are currently the U18 defending gold medalists.

U17 / U16 Championships
FIBA initiated in 2010 the U17 World Cups for players 17 years old or younger and now holds the event every two years (2022, 2024, etc.). In 2018, the USA Basketball men’s team won a fifth consecutive gold medal and USA women’s team won gold and has now captured the gold medal in four of the five U17 World Cups. USA Basketball also selects U16 national teams featuring players 16 years old or younger for FIBA Americas zone U16 qualifying tournaments that will be held in 2021, 2023, etc. The USA men and women are currently the U16 defending gold medalists.

Nike Hoop Summit
The Nike Hoop Summit is the country’s premiere annual basketball game featuring America’s top male high school seniors taking on a World Select Team comprised of top players 19 years old or younger from around the world. Played each April, the USA enjoys a 15-7 series lead. First contested in 1995, The 2021 Nike Hoop Summit will be played in April at the Moda Center in Portland.

3×3 World Championships
FIBA initiated 3×3 competitions in 2010 and now conducts 3×3 World Cups and 3×3 U18 World Cups for men and women yearly (except in years when the Youth Olympic Games are held), and the Youth Olympic Games, featuring 3×3 competition, which is held every four years (2022, 2026, etc.). In 2019, the USA men finished 7-0 to capture its first FIBA 3×3 World Cup gold. Additionally, the USA men and women both compiled 7-0 records to claim gold medals at the 2019 FIBA U18 3×3 World Cup, and the USA men and women won the inaugural Pan American Games 3×3 titles. In 2018 the USA women finished 7-0 to claim a second-straight gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games, while the U.S. men finished 2-2. Olympic fans will see the inclusion of 3×3 in the Tokyo Olympic Games.