Tammi Reiss Fulfills Lifelong Goal with USA’s Olympic Three-on-Three Women’s Basketball Team

With two 3×3 teams automatically qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games, USA Basketball announced today that Joe Lewandowski will coach the 2024 3×3 USA Men’s National Team and Jennifer Rizzotti, president of the Connecticut Sun, will coach the 2024 3×3 USA Women’s National Team in Paris. Rhode Island women’s basketball head coach Tammi Reiss was named Assistant Coach under Rizzotti.

“Two accomplished coaches will lead our 3×3 efforts in Paris,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “We are grateful to Jen and Joe for their ongoing commitments to USA Basketball and proud to have the opportunity for both 3×3 teams to compete at the Olympic Games.”

Rizzotti, a longtime member of the USA Basketball family, will be at the helm for the defending Olympic gold medalist women. Last year, Rizzotti coached three gold-medal-winning teams, including the 2023 USA 3×3 Women’s World Cup Team, 2023 USA 3×3 Women’s AmeriCup Team and 2023 USA 3×3 Women’s Pan American Team. She made her 3×3 coaching debut in 2022 on the FIBA 3×3 Women’s Series.

Rizzotti, who has USA Basketball 5-on-5 and 3×3 coaching experience, won gold as an assistant coach to Dawn Staley at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She currently chairs the USA Basketball Women’s National Team Committee (5-on-5), which will select the 2024 USA Women’s National Team.

“I am absolutely honored to be continuing my USA Basketball journey as the head coach of the 2024 USA 3×3 Women’s National Team,” Rizzotti said. “It has been the joy of my career to coach athletes who are representing our country on the biggest stage at the Olympic Games. This sport is exhilarating to watch, challenging to coach and extremely rewarding to be a part of. I am grateful for all the people who were instrumental in helping us qualify for Paris and I look forward to preparing the athletes for one of those most competitive environments I will ever be a part of.”

Joining Rizzotti as assistant coach is Tammi Reiss (University of Rhode Island). An assistant under Rizzotti at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup, Reiss has additional 3×3 coaching experience as the head coach for the 2023 USA U24 Team on the FIBA Women’s Series and at the 2023 USA 3×3 Nations League Final.

“Tammi is the perfect complement to me,” Rizzotti said. “I am thrilled to have her by my side. She is passionate, detail oriented, focused and fun to be around. She is also one of the few coaches who understands 3×3 like I do and I know she will work tirelessly to make sure that we are ready for the competition.”

Lewandowski, who has been coaching and advising the USA Basketball 3×3 program since 2014, will lead a team of men making their 3×3 Olympic debuts. With over a dozen USA Basketball coaching assignments, Lewandowski most recently led the 2023 USA 3×3 Men’s Pan American Team to the gold medal and the 2023 USA 3×3 Men’s World Cup Team to silver.

Lewandowski has been a coaching fixture at nearly every level and is currently the head coach at Butler County Community College in Oak Hills, Pennsylvania. A standout player, Lewandowski’s collegiate career began at Butler County, where he was named a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American before transferring to Slippery Rock University.

“There is no greater honor than representing your country and wearing USA across your chest at the Olympic Games,” Lewandowski said. “This is incredibly humbling. I am beyond blessed and thankful for the opportunity to represent USA Basketball in Paris this summer.”

Additionally, James Fraschilla (Capital City Go-Go) will serve as assistant coach for the men’s squad. Fraschilla previously assisted USA Basketball’s Team Washington DC and Team Omaha on the 2023 FIBA 3×3 Men’s World Tour.

“It is very exciting to work with James as we prepare our athletes for Paris,” Lewandowski said. “He is a tireless worker on the journey to pursue USA Basketball’s first 3×3 men’s Olympic gold medal. We are looking forward to the challenge.”

FIBA previously announced that USA Basketball automatically qualified men’s and women’s 3×3 teams for the 2024 Olympics. In each category, the United States was one of three countries that qualified based on FIBA 3×3 world rankings as of Oct. 31, 2023, and will bypass the 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. For more information about Olympic qualification, click here.

The 2024 Paris Olympics are set for July 26-Aug. 11, with the 3×3 basketball competition set for July 30-Aug.5 at Place de la Concorde. More information, including 2024 USA 3×3 National Team training camp details and complete competition schedule, will be announced at a later date.

Different than 5-on-5, 3×3 is played on a half-court with a 10-minute game clock and 12-second shot clock. Play is continuous, as teams “clear” the ball behind the 2-point line following a made basket, defensive rebound or steal. The first team to score 21 points via 1-point field goals or 2-pointers behind the arc is victorious; or if time expires then the team leading wins.