USA basketball’s 3×3 Dylan Travis: ‘The no-name that made it

USA Basketball has unveiled the 3×3 Men’s Team that will be headed to the Paris Olympics: In a rational way, Dylan Travis shouldn’t be wearing a basketball jersey in Paris this summer with Team USA printed across it.

However, this 31-year-old special education teacher’s basketball career defies logic.

The Omaha, Nebraska, native committed to Midland University, a school in Fremont, Nebraska, that is accredited by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. He finished his senior year of high school scoring first in his home state, but he did not receive any offers to attend Division I schools.

“Being all-state coming out of high school, (I) was humbled my first year at an NAIA school,” the 6-foot-3 guard stated. I didn’t have my head on straight, kind of creating issues and stuff, criticizing coaches.”

After a year at Midland, he went to Iowa Central Community College. He was aware that he might be able to play Division I basketball if he did well there.

“I had to mature a lot going into Iowa Central,” Travis stated. I was greatly helped by the Hall of Fame juco coach Denis Pilcher. That contributed to the development of who I am today.

Following his success at Iowa Central, where he averaged 18.3 points per game, he made a commitment to Florida Southern, a Division II school.

There, Travis flourished. His junior year, the Moccasins won the Division II national championship. His eagerly anticipated Division I offer was accepted after that season.

At that point, I had finished it. “I stayed at Florida Southern and was an All-American my senior year,” Travis stated. Florida Southern was great after all those stops. It was like heaven there.

“Being a good teammate and a good person off the court really matters, no matter where you are in the world. At Florida Southern, I gleaned some significant knowledge about that.”

Travis played in Germany and Australia after graduation. After four years, he decided against chasing a lifetime goal in training and put the ball down.

Travis proceeded with his association in b-ball by training the group at his secondary school. Before his friend suggested participating in Omaha’s 3×3 tournament circuit, he had never considered competing again.

Travis first got his start playing the 3×3 game with the team 3Ball Omaha, and he went on to play more than 150 professional games before he fell in love with it. He eventually met Canyon Barry, Kareem Maddox, and Jimmer Fredette, his future teammates, on the circuit. USA Basketball later purchased the quartet.

The team got an Olympic bid to represent the red, white, and blue after finishing second in the world in November.

The team has won numerous medals, including gold at the FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup in 2022 and silver at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup in 2023, as well as gold at the Pan American Games in 2022.

With all his thriving on the court, Travis most relishes the way that his mom will be in Paris watching him play.

“Just my mom and I are growing up. “So that I could attend a private secondary school, she maintained three sources of income,” he stated. I will treasure the opportunity to see her in Paris because she has never left the United States.

Travis is pleased with his team’s Olympic preparations.

USA Basketball has unveiled the 3×3 Men’s Team that will be headed to the Paris Olympics:  “We’re the first (U.S. men’s) bunch that has been chosen for the Olympics, so there is a couple of pressure and a couple of suppositions to win gold and foster the game,” he said. ” We can carry that burden because we are veterans. As a result, we are looking forward to that challenge.

Travis values his exciting ride vocation reflectively.

“I’m just the no-name that made it,” he stated.

“I’m a Division II man who can play three-on-three anywhere. “Now I’m competing in the Olympics,” he continued. If you like the game, keep playing it.”