The Wildcats are not playing in the Final Four this weekend, but one of its top players will take part in a premiere showcase at the site of the championship games. Senior forward Brekkott Chapman will represent Weber State University in the 3X3U National Championships at the Mall of America in Minneapolis.
The event is compromised of seniors from all 32 Division 1 conferences in the country. Each conference has its own team.
“Obviously it’s a blessing to be able to represent WSU, my family, friends and the Big Sky Conference. It’s going to be fun,” Chapman said.
Chapman is one of four players on the Big Sky team. He is joined by Jesse Hunt of Eastern Washington, Marcus Graves of Sacramento State and Brandon Better of Southern Utah. This marks the second straight year for a Wildcat to participate in the event after Ryan Richardson was selected last season.
“From what I remember Ryan telling me, you go out there and play hard,” Chapman said. “You need to treat it like a college game and not a vacation.”
The tournament will consist of pool play with 24 games on both Friday and Saturday. The round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will all take place Sunday.
Chapman hopes to adjust to the different style of six players on the court as opposed to 10 in a normal game setting.
“It’s a completely different play style. Honestly I think it will help me and give me a lot of room on the floor to make plays,” Chapman said.
Chapman led his team in three-point field goals made in 2018-19 with 68 and ranked third on the squad averaging 12.5 points per game.
“I’m excited as heck for him,” said Zach Braxton, WSU senior center and Chapman’s teammate the last two seasons. “He worked very hard to be one of the best players in the Big Sky and now he’s getting to represent our conference and I think that’s awesome.”
Chapman only played two seasons in Ogden after transferring from the University of Utah, but Braxton said he enjoyed their friendship on and off the court.
“It was awesome. He was a great leader and a great friend,” Braxton said. “He was by my side through thick and thin and it was a heck of a lot of fun sharing some special moments with him.”
After the 3X3 tournament concludes, Chapman plans on heading to U.S. Bank Stadium to catch the action of four teams vying for the national championship. He said he hopes to see the upstart Auburn Tigers cut down the nets on Monday night.
“After watching, I’m rooting for (Auburn). They play really fast and shoot a lot of threes. I like them,” Chapman said.
Despite a loss to the Montana Grizzlies in the semifinals of the conference tournament, Chapman said he is keeping his head up.
“I just want to show everyone I still have the drive and that I can play at a professional level,” Chapman said. (The 3X3) helps get my head on something different and move on to the next step. But that Montana game sucked and will always be something I’m not happy about.”
