3x3U National Championship Web Site

After a stellar senior season for the Eastern Washington University men's basketball program, Jesse Hunt will participate April 5-7 in in the 2019 Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship at Minnesota's Mall of America.
 
He will play on a Big Sky Conference team which will also include Sacramento State's Marcus Graves, Brandon Better from Southern Utah and Brekkott Chapman from Weber State. The event takes place just before the NCAA Division I Final Four takes place at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on April 6-8.
 
"It's exciting that Jesse was chosen to play in this event during the Final Four in Minneapolis," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans. "This is a great tournament where Jesse can represent EWU and the Big Sky, and hopefully win some money."
 
Hunt earned second team All-Big Sky honors as selected by the league's head coaches in 2019, and was also selected as one of five Big Sky players on the all-league first team chosen by HoopsHD.com. Hunt had six 20-point outings in his senior season, with 12 double-doubles – including eight of his last 18 games. His 496 points were the 19th-most in school history as he helped lead EWU to 13 wins in its last 19 games and a second-straight appearance in the championship game of the Big Sky Tournament.
 
He was EWU's leading scorer in 10 games, and led in rebounds 20 times, assists in 14 games and blocked shots on 10 occasions – all team bests. His 32 points versus UMKC (11/17/18) is 52nd all-time at EWU, and he had three rebounding performances that rank in the top 25 -- 17 versus Sacramento State (1/26/19) to rank eighth; 16 against Idaho State (3/7/19) to rank 17th; and 15 against Montana (1/10/19) to rank 25th. He had at least five assists in seven of his last 16 games.
 
He averaged 14.6 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists on the season to lead the Big Sky in rebounding and rank 10th in scoring and eighth in assists. Hunt had shooting percentages of 48.7 percent overall (ninth in the Big Sky), 42.0 percent from 3-point range (10th; 50-of-119) and 75.2 percent from the free throw line.
 
In league play, Hunt finished with averages of 13.9 points (12th), 9.5 rebounds (second, a single rebound from tying for the lead) and 3.6 assists (eighth) in 20 games. In league games only, he was sixth in the Big Sky in 3-point accuracy (43.3 percent; 29-of-67) and made 80.8 percent of his free throws (63-of-78) to rank 11th.
 
In addition, his 531 career rebounds ranks ninth in school history. Hunt played in 117 career games (11th in EWU history) with 51 starts, and had averages of 6.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists. He had 14 double-doubles in his career (record of 10-4), and scored 20 points or more on six occasions (all as a senior). He has had 34 career double-figure scoring performances in his career to go along with 18 with 10 or more rebounds.
 
Hunt was born in Geraldton, Australia, but spent his entire high school career in the United States and graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in California in 2015. He is a management major and has a 3.57 grade point average at Eastern. Was nominated for Academic All-America honors as a both a senior and junior and will earn his fourth Big Sky All-Academic honor in the 2018-19 season.
 
 

More About the 2019 Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship . . .

 
The tournament is comprised of all-star teams of seniors, who have exhausted their collegiate eligibility, representing all 32 Division I conferences. The teams will compete for a $150,000 prize pool, with the champions taking home $100,000, double the prize money from a year ago. Additionally, the winners will earn the right to compete in the 2019 USA Basketball 3x3 Open National Championship later this spring.

All 32 rosters for the event will be announced the week of April 1. Each team roster will be comprised of four eligible seniors from the same NCAA Division I conference. Teams will be organized into eight pools of four and each team will be guaranteed three pool play games, earning $1,000 for every victory on Friday and Saturday. The top two teams in each pool will move on to Sunday's knockout stage, where the stakes skyrocket. Only the teams competing in the tournament final will earn additional prize money, with the champions winning $100,000.

All games of the Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship will be carried live on Twitter or ESPN2. Pool play will begin at 12 p.m. Pacific time on April 5, with 24 games streamed live exclusively on Twitter. Pool play will continue on April 6 with 24 more games streamed live exclusively on Twitter. Round of 16 and quarterfinal games will be streamed live exclusively on Twitter on April 7, with semifinal, consolation and championship games televised live on ESPN2 later that day.

The setting for the second annual Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship will be a half court inside Mall of America, the most popular tourist destination in Minnesota. The 3X3U National Championship will be staged in the Rotunda at the Mall, which hosted the first WCW Monday Nitro in September 1995, and will be just the second live sporting event to be broadcast in the Mall's history.

Admission to the 3X3U National Championship is free and fans are encouraged to be part of the atmosphere during regular Mall of America operating hours.

For more information on the 3X3U National Championship, including event updates, details, rules and more, follow on Twitter at @3X3UHoops or online at www.3X3UHoops.com.