‘It’s a big family’: Professional basketball stars show Spokane youths the ropes prior to NCAA March Madness games

The Warehouse was alive with the sound of squeaking shoes, bouncing basketballs and gleeful chatter Thursday afternoon as area youths learned some tips and tricks from several professional basketball stars.

Spokane Sports, the Spokane Youth Sports Association and 3XBA, the U.S.’s first and only professional women’s FIBA 3x3 league, marked the arrival of the NCAA March Madness tournament games to the Inland Northwest by inviting elementary and middle schoolers to develop their skills to one day compete at that level.

The $40-per-child clinic, sponsored by Idaho Central Credit Union, was one of a number of events put together to drum up excitement for the games, as well as the long slate of competitions featuring women athletes gracing the Lilac City this month.

For 3XBA, the clinic was part of their ongoing work to develop a youth-to-pro-pipeline, said Seattle-raised President Alanna McDonald, who co-founded the league alongside venture capitalist Arlan Hamilton and entrepreneur Holly Levow.

McDonald said the league regularly hosts player, coaching and referee clinics across the country to ensure the U.S. has the proper “development infrastructure” in place to produce top talents.

“The sport is already booming globally, and the United States is a little bit behind here,” McDonald said.

3-on-3 basketball, while a mainstay of Spokane’s sporting world, is booming internationally due in part to its inclusion in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris games. McDonald said Inland Northwest residents can look forward to international competition at Hoopfest this summer, as the league hosts an international tournament weaved into Hooptown USA’s summer draw.

“It’s an absolutely legendary event,” McDonald said. “It’s the largest 3-on-3 tournament in the world, so it was a natural partnership for us.”

3XBA athletes acting as coaches for the event included former Lafayette College standout Natalie Kucowski, who was a 2021 Seattle Storm draft pick with experience playing professionally overseas, and Paris Olympics Bronze Medalist Cierra Burdick, who played under the late coaching legend Pat Summit at the University of Tennessee, went on to play for eight different WNBA teams and has won seven gold medals in international competitions as a member of USA Basketball.

Eight-year-old twin brothers Ryker and Kaiden Graber said “shooting hoops” is what they were most looking forward to. Kaiden expressed it’s an opportunity he’s been missing since his “basketball session” through the youth sports association ended. That seemed to change when Burdick broke out her medal from the Paris games for attendees to take photos with.

“It was, like, 5 pounds,” Ryker said excitedly. “And it had a piece of the Eiffel tower in it.”

Their mother, Whitney Graber, said she and her husband like to let the two explore what they might be interested in, which has included jiu jitsu, dirt bike racing, football, baseball and, of course, basketball. They learned about the clinic through an email from the youth sports association and made the drive over from Newman Lake to participate.

Graber said she’ll be looking into whether the two can compete in the junior league of Hoopfest to feed the newfound interest.

“One of their classmates did it this summer, and they were talking about it, ‘Oh, can we do it next year?’ ” Graber recalled. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, if you want to do it, let’s do it.’ ”

Kucowski said introducing the 3-on-3 format to children is always fun.

Anyone who watches or plays the fast-paced game, with a 10-minute duration, a 12-second shot clock and no coaching during play, “automatically enjoys it,” she said. It also lends itself to allowing more playing time and a more complete skill set than traditional 5 on 5 games.

The adjustment to 3-on-3 has been relatively smooth for Kucowski, she said.

“There’s so much you can do when you’re a versatile player in three on three compared to five on five,” Kucowski said. “Yeah, there’s more opportunities for you to show your different skills, it’s kind of less thinking, more doing because it’s such a fast pace.”

Retired Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office deputy Alana Hunt made the drive over from Idaho with her longtime partner’s grandsons in tow for the clinic, as well as the meet and greet with the athletes held beforehand. Hunt is a former scholarship player for the Gonzaga women’s basketball team and was equally, if not more, excited to see the stars at work.

It’s been “just amazing” to see support and interest in women’s athletics grow dramatically in recent years, she said.

“It’s nice to see that they’re finally getting recognized and getting paid just as much, and the women’s games are actually more competitive,” Hunt said.

“I like to see that the women give back, and they do so much more because they’re just committed to get more people to play,” she added, gesturing to Kucowski working with a group of tiny athletes.

Hunt said she tries to attend as many home games for her former team as she can and remarked on how joyful it is to see her suite of adopted grandkids get caught up in the excitement, even those that aren’t as interested in sports as the two clinic attendees, Thomas Schreibeis and Kyler Mee.

Thomas, 7, and Kyler, 9, had a whole-day basketball bonanza Thursday, which featured checking out of elementary school early and swinging by the Gonzaga team store to get a new jersey, and branded sweatpants, respectively.

“It’s cool,” Kyler said, before adding “shooting” was his favorite part of the day. His brother of equally few words, Thomas, said getting to meet the athletes was “good,” and described them as “nice.”

Kyler received an award for his defensive performance during the clinic, while his younger brother received an award for his sportsmanship and being a good teammate. Hunt said they talked about the experience “the whole ride home,” then promptly went to bed after a long day of hooping.

The all-day affair will carry over into next week, Hunt said, as they’ve already got tickets to all four days of collegiate play at the Spokane Arena this weekend. She smiled as she remarked on how lucky Spokane is to host the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds, and to have some of the top teams in the nation all season long featured in those games.

Hunt flashed an even brighter smile as she watched the 3XBA athletes working with children from across the Inland Northwest.

“It’s just amazing,” Hunt said. “That commitment to passing it on and encouraging others. It’s the way it’s supposed to be. It’s a big family.”