3-on-3 format freshens up Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic
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- KJ Cunningham, left, and Dyson Koehler share a laugh during the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Dusty Baker, left, drives against Nick Hansen during the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Zharia Hale, center, scoops a shot past Brett Cox and Darin Mahoney during the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Steve Panos rises to the rim for a bucket during the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Brett Cox laughs during competition at the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Nick Hansen drives the baseline during the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
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- Action during the sixth biennial Weber State Basketball Alumni Classic on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025, in Ogden.
OGDEN — Weber State’s biennial Basketball Alumni Classic, hosted by Damian Lillard, shifted to Swenson Gym on Saturday night and gave fans a new look with a 3-on-3 tournament broken up by shooting competitions.
Lillard said he was happy with the night, prefers the Dee Events Center (currently undergoing construction), and would’ve held the event in “an empty building” if he had to.
“It was more important for us to have this than it mattered where we were,” Lillard said. “The thing is to keep everybody together and keep us connected. People go home to their families, they don’t live in Utah, people fly in for this. It’s a pick-me-up, you know. Everybody’s in good spirits and happy to still be connected to the program, and that’s the most important thing.”
Should tradition continue, the next installment is set for 2027 at the Dee Events Center.
3-ON-3 TOURNAMENT
Eight teams competed in seven-minute games to decide a team champion over three rounds. The title went to Brett Cox (2003-06), Nick Hansen (2008-10) and Darin Mahoney (2008-12), who defeated a team of Steve Panos (2006-10), Dusty Baker (2015-18) and Zharia Hale (2016-18) by a score of 10-6 (playing by ones and twos).
Early in the matchup, Hale poked a ball out of Cox’s hands on the perimeter and the loose ball trickled near midcourt where the current men’s basketball team had gathered to watch the championship final. Hale and Cox ended the play piled on top of each other diving for the ball, which brought a hootin’ and hollerin’ men’s team circled around the action in appreciation of the effort.
A back-and-forth game switched leads when Cox hit a two-pointer for a 7-6 lead, then scored on a backcourt cut assisted by Hansen to seize the win.
Happy winners hauled home a hefty cooler as prize winnings.
Highlights of the first round included recent graduates KJ Cunningham (2019-24) and Dyson Koehler (2021-25) going toe to toe in a matchup against each other; at one point, Cunningham threw a no-look pass to Kyle Tresnak (2010-14) for a layup.
The game that drew the most crowd excitement was a first-round matchup between Lewis Lofton (1993-95), Larryn Brooks (2017-18) and David Patten (2004-07) against Tori Allen (1995-98), Marlon Carter (2001-03) and Alex Tew (2021-25).
Playing to the direction of the current men’s basketball squad, then seated baseline, helped matters after Patten drove for a bucket against a foul from Tew. But Tew later returned the favor with a dunk through a Patten foul and the big man, who was 0-for-1 from the 3-point line in his WSU career, knocked down a pair of triples.
Brooks, who averaged 20.2 points in her lone women’s basketball season at WSU, also turned heads with some crafty ball-handling and passing while hitting a key 3-pointer. Lofton made a 3 that helped the Lofton/Brooks/Patten team advance.
3-POINT CONTEST
Baker ran away with the 3-point contest, making 16 of his 25 attempts with his wife and kids (and his younger brother, BYU guard Dawson) looking on from the crowd. Brooks posted the second-best score of 10, and both took home $250 gift cards.
SHOOTING STARS
One team came ready for the shooting stars contest, a format in which teams of three players make a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot in as little time as possible.
That was Patten, Lofton and Cox. The trio completed their first-round shots in just 16 seconds to advance to the final.
A team of Hansen, Baker and Carter posted a solid time of 29.2 seconds in the final but the winners followed by making their first three shots within the first four seconds. That gave ample time to make the half-courter, which Cox did at a mark of 16.9 seconds.
