Photo from fiba.com
Kiefer Ravena takes on a new challenge, this time pioneering the Intercollegiate 3×3 Invitationals on March 19-20 at Xavier School Gym and the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.
Pitting the best of collegiate basketball in a 3×3 setting, the i3i is set to showcase players from top programs like reigning UAAP champion FEU, NCAA king Letran, National University, San Beda and Ateneo.
“Gusto lang natin ipakita yung talent ng mga Pinoy, lalo na sa 3×3 (We just want to show the Filipinos’ talent especially in the 3×3 level),” said the two-time UAAP MVP, who will serve as tournament director in the activity organized by Rack Sports, endorsed by the SBP and supported by Mighty Sports, Akari, SM Mall of Asia, MyPhone, Toby’s, Titan, The Frazzled Cook, Xavier School, Ambucare and Teravibe.
Although he hasn’t represented the Philippines in a FIBA 3×3 tournament just yet, Ravena joined hands with Jeron Teng, Bright Akhuetie and Ola Adeogun in beating Team Qatar in an exhibition match at the 2015 FIBA 3×3 All-Stars in Doha last December.
The i3i will have 32 teams divided into groups, where they will play a single round-robin elimination round at Xavier before proceeding to the knockout stages at the SM MOA Music Hall.
Official FIBA 3×3 rules will be adopted and the champions will receive Php 200, 000.00 in cash, half of which will go to their school. Second and third placers will also bring home Php 100, 000.00 and Php 50, 000.00, respectively.
According to Ravena, the i3i is just the start of a string of 3×3 tournaments he and his group, which also includes Anton Altamirano, PH internet pioneer JR Contreras and UAAP head statistician Pong Ducanes, plan to do for the rest of the year.
“We want to expose Filipinos to the 3×3 format. We’re a fit for this considering a lot of us play in half court everywhere,” he said. “We’ll bring this to the countryside and hope to help develop a grassroots program for 3×3, too.”