Jay Wright 'proud' of players in 3x3 FIBA event

It's been a busy summer for Jay Wright and his players, four of which joined their coach with an opportunity to represent their country, albeit in different events. While coach Wright helped guide the Men's National Team to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Olympics as an assistant, Brandon Slater, Trey Patterson, Eric Dixon and Chris Arcidiacono traveled to France to take part in the FIBA U23 Nations League.

While Wright was busy in Tokyo, he was able to keep track of his four players at the FIBA event. “The way the times worked out, it was only like six or seven hours difference in Tokyo as opposed to anything that was going on back home here was 13 hours so I got to watch, I saw almost every game," Wright said. "It was really cool. We were quarantined, so it broke up the days, it was good for me. I think I might have missed one game. But I was really proud of how they competed."

The players faced difficult circumstances, dealing with more experienced teams and the differences of a 3-on-3 setting, but Wright was happy with what he saw from his players. "I thought they played really hard and tough, they did not shoot the ball well," Wright said. "The ball is different, the rules are different, the teams they were playing against were more sophisticated and more prepared for the rules of 3-on-3 but I thought they did a great job, I was really proud of them.”

While Wright had eyes on his players and was proud of how they played, he resisted the urge to get too involved in their experience. “I totally left them alone," Wright said. "I just texted them ‘great job’, ‘tough game’ but I totally left them alone, they had their own coach there.”