Sports
Kareem Maddox, American 3×3 basketball player, is working hard to get to the Olympics

PARIS – For Kareem Maddox and the struggling USA 3×3 men’s basketball team, their anticipated path to a medal at the Paris Olympics will likely be derailed. But for the American, simply making it to the Olympics from a singular Ivy League path has made his journey unforgettable.
“It’s been an absolutely beautiful experience,” Maddox told Andscape. “I’m enjoying it with my family, having the full support of everyone I’ve worked with at USA Basketball, all in one place. I can’t wait to reflect on it when it’s all said and done. But we’re keeping our heads down, still working hard.”
Since 2015, Maddox has been certainly one of the most decorated Americans in the short history of 3×3 basketball, a discipline that may appear on the Olympic program in 2020.
The Los Angeles-born player has played for the U.S. in two FIBA 3×3 World Cups, two FIBA 3×3 Men’s AmeriCups and two Pan American Games. Maddox was a member of the U.S. men’s 3×3 national team that went 3-2 in the 2021 FIBA 3×3 Olympic qualifying tournament. He is also a member of the USA Basketball 3×3 men’s team, together with former NBA point guard Jimmer Fredette, Dylan Travis and Canyon Berry. The U.S. was 0-4 with Fredette sidelined with an injury before Friday’s first group-stage victory, 21-19 against host France.
“I won’t lie, it was a tough time on the court,” Maddox said. “The rules and the length of the game make it unpredictable enough. Then you think about every thing that happened outside of that, and you’ve gotten a tournament that is like this. The game is the game.
“It’s not over yet. We’re still fighting. I’ve seen worse things happen. We just have to dig deeper.”
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Maddox was born on December 9, 1989, in Los Angeles to an African-American father and a Sudanese mother whose father was once the director of the Sudanese boxing federation. Maddox’s father, Alan, had been to several Summer Olympics and worked as a volunteer at the media center. Kareem Maddox was able to go to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he dreamed of becoming an Olympian.
Before specializing in basketball, Kareem Maddox grew up playing other sports, reminiscent of track, tennis, water polo, and cross-country, at his father’s request. Maddox was not a widely known basketball player in Los Angeles when he played at suburban Oak Park High School. The late-blooming 6-foot-8 winger didn’t play AAU basketball and was not a sought-after recruit by Division I programs. Alan Maddox, nonetheless, believed his son had the talent and grades to play college basketball at an Ivy League school.
In the summer of 2007, Alan Maddox sent his son to an elite basketball camp at Princeton. Then-head coach Joe Scott was impressed with Kareem’s play at the camp and commenced recruiting him. Penn, Harvard, Yale and Puget Sound showed interest during his senior season, but Kareem Maddox signed a letter of intent to play for Princeton on February 7, 2007.
“I didn’t play AAU or have any recruiting experience, so nobody had heard of me, I didn’t have any letters,” Kareem Maddox said. “So we flew out to New Jersey and just signed up for Princeton’s elite camp. I used to be like, ‘Okay, whatever, this sounds cool.’ So I played, Joe Scott was the coach, and I used to be just with the other campers. But I played pretty much. I used to be an athlete and a superb, decent basketball player, but probably not that sophisticated.
“(Scott) said, ‘Who are you and where are you going to school? How’s college going? And I said, ‘Oh no, I don’t have any letters. I don’t know if I’m going to play basketball in college.’ He said, ‘Well, can you come here? How are your grades?’ I said, ‘They’re good. I have a 3.8, 3.9 (grade point average). And I don’t know if they’re good enough for Princeton.’ He said, ‘I’ll worry about that. You don’t worry about that.’ And the rest is history.”
Maddox averaged 7.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game during his profession at Princeton from 2007 to 2011. As a senior in 2010-11, the 2011 Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year averaged 14 points, 6.9 rebounds and a team-high 1.7 blocks per game. He also holds a level in English literature.
After Princeton, Maddox played professionally in the Netherlands and England for 2 seasons. In 2013, he retired from basketball and have become a news producer for Los Angeles radio station KCRW. Maddox also hosted NPR’s All Things Considered, which focused on vital public affairs.
Maddox began playing 3-on-3 basketball for Ariel Slow and Steady in 2015, which finished fourth in the 2015 USA Basketball 3×3 Nationals. His desire to return to basketball grew after watching the Cleveland Cavaliers come from 3-1 down in the 2016 NBA Finals to defeat the Golden State Warriors. In the summer of 2016, he traveled to Las Vegas and took part in basketball tryouts with foreign teams searching for players. This led to him working as knowledgeable basketball player in Poland during the 2016-17 season after a three-year hiatus.
“I was more surprised when he came out of retirement and decided to come back and play 5-on-5 in Poland again because his radio and TV career was going so well,” said Alan Maddox. “I would say I was 50-50 on that. But again, by that time he had the skills and the education to support himself even if it didn’t work out or if it did work out. It worked out in the end. We’re really happy for him.”

Lars Baron/Getty Images
In 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced that 3×3 basketball can be added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. That’s when Maddox began to consider his Olympic dream could come true. In 2018, he earned MVP honors as Ariel Slow and Steady won the 2018 USA Basketball 3×3 Nationals title. It was that honor that led to his first time on the USA Basketball 3×3 roster as a member of the gold-medal-winning team at the inaugural 3×3 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.
Maddox has had other interests outside of 3×3 basketball over the years, including work in media. He has been a journalist for NPR member stations in Los Angeles and Colorado. He has produced each day newscasts and hosted “All Things Considered” for a statewide audience on KUNC News. He has produced podcasts for Spotify-acquired Gimlet Media. He also produced “The Pitch,” a real inside take a look at the enterprise capital fundraising process.
Maddox didn’t make it to the NBA, but he became a component of it through the Minnesota Timberwolves. He lives in Minneapolis, where he works for the Timberwolves in video, scouting and player development. Maddox was hired by Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, whose younger brother, Dan, was the director of basketball operations at Princeton when Maddox played there.
“I’ll be out there warming up and shooting and stuff like that,” Maddox said. “Whatever they need. I’ll jump into practice if I need to. And then I’ll just put together some videos for the scouts.”
Maddox was devastated when the USA Basketball 3×3 team failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, the U.S. qualified for the Paris Olympics after ending second at the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Serbia.
“I felt grateful working out and training for the last three years that I was able to do it, that I was healthy enough and fortunate enough,” Maddox said.
Alan Maddox is a part of a bunch of relations cheering on Kareem Maddox in France. Alan Maddox hopes more kids will get involved in sports by watching the Olympics.
“Only a limited number of people will be in the major leagues, but anyone can play an Olympic sport in their youth, high school, college and, in many cases, professionally,” said Alan Maddox. “Some of the most amazing people I meet are athletes who’re much more amazing of their careers outside of the Olympics. They have amazing careers because, again, coming back to those sports and specializing in something and having the ability to concentrate on something and stick to it, that’s just a very good thing, so far as I’m concerned…
“We saw (Kareem’s) work, discipline and travel. We were really excited to see that when someone puts that much effort into something, they succeed. That’s not an easy thing to do.”
Medal or no medal, the Olympic experience was definitely memorable for Maddox. While most of the American athletes stayed in the Olympic Village, all of the USA Basketball teams stayed in a secure hotel in Paris.
That means Maddox and the USA Basketball 3×3 men’s and girls’s teams will likely be staying at the same hotel as NBA stars LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, and WNBA stars A’ja Wilson, Diana Taurasi and Breanna Stewart, who’re all members of their senior national teams. The Olympic 3×3 competition is also happening in the heart of Paris at La Concorde, a city park that has been transformed into a brief outdoor arena that also hosts BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboarding competitions.
“We’re just keeping a small footprint. And no, no, we’re definitely not trying to take pictures with anyone or anything like that,” Maddox said. “We’re hoping to get tickets to the finale, but we’ll be there to watch them.”
Playing basketball has given Maddox the opportunity to visit some 25 countries, and he’s enjoyed every trip. He’ll be 38 when the 2028 Olympics are held in Los Angeles. If USA Basketball still wants him on the roster, he’d like to try to win a 3×3 medal on American soil. In the meantime, he plans to proceed playing for the Timberwolves and begin a each day podcast.
“I’ll play as long as it makes sense, as long as I love it and enjoy it,” Maddox said. “It’s been the biggest blessing. It’s just every thing I like to do. It’s the traveling. It’s the time to myself while I’m traveling. It’s the competition, and also you only play for the weekend, after which you’ve gotten time to do whatever you wish.
“I’m going to try to get as much out of it as I can. And at this level, who knows? We’ll see. I think the game is evolving and it’s going to be harder and harder for a 38-year-old at this point to make it to 2028.”
Sports
Jalen Milroe can follow the Jalen path in NFL

Star Black playmakers aren’t any longer an exception – they’re the rule. Throughout the entire football season, this series will discover the importance and influence of black QB from bottom -up to NFL.
Indianapolis-keep me, should you heard it earlier: playmaker Alabama born in Texas, who’s a stronger runner than a passerby, will probably be called outside the first round of the NFL Draft.
The playmaker was undefeated in Sec as a primary -year starter.
The playmaker never played for the same offensive coordinator.
The name of the playmaker is even Jalen.
But it isn’t clear that Jalen hurts. This winter he was busy winning the Super Bowl MVP, and he didn’t play Iron Bowl or against Michigan.
Instead, it’s a former playmaker of Crimson Tide Jalen Milroewho last week Combine Combine tried to convey the case to the trainers and evaluators that he – like his namesake – is price being their playmaker franchise in the future despite questions on his ability.
“I went through adversity. I saw everything as a quarterback, “Milroe said on Friday. “I played at the most difficult conference in the country. It would be easier to play at other conferences, but what I could see in Sec catapulted me that I was ready to play NFL. “
Justin Casterline/Getty Images
Departing from Katy in Texas, she originally got involved in Texas in 2019, but a 12 months later she fell to Alabama. After he was sitting behind the Crimson Tide Starter Bryung for 2 seasons, Milroe took his reins in the 2023 season. He helped Alabama survive Sec (8-0) this 12 months, won by the conference rival and two-time defender Georgia in the SEC championship, which caused Crimson Tide to the play-off collection.
But while Milroe had a big arm (his 10 yards for the test took third place in Sec in 2023), the pass was not his strong suit. For two seasons as a starter Milroe never achieved 3000 yards in one season, the first starter of Alabama, who did it because it … hurts.
Hurts, from Houston, led Crimson Tide to the National National Championships in 2016–17, but during these two seasons were lower than 5,000 yards. While Hurts was a singular Rusher (1,809 yards and 21 sticks) at the moment, his weakness as a passerby is known for led to the spare Tua Tavailoa during the break of the national championships in 2017.
In the mix, Milroe decided that despite his pedestrian passes, he was still worthy of being a start at NFL.
He is aware of his weaknesses and swore that he worked in the ass to enhance outside being “one dimension.” He could move when his legendary trainer, Nick Saban, retired after the 2023 season, but decided to not fall off. He traveled six miles a day to ensure that that something was left in the fourth quarter in the fourth quarter. He studied progression and reads after I-SNAP to lift his IQ in football.
Unlike the forecast sorts of the first round, Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders, Milroe threw a mix on Saturday, hoping that he would show the bands that he has mechanics to do that to the playmaker NFL. It turned out to be a mixed bag. Milroe showed strong arm strength and a very good location of sail routes, curls and it while throwing exercises, but fought accuracy on intermediate and on the routes.
“That’s so many things that I can learn more where I am today and where I will be when it comes to day 1, starting with NFL,” said Milroe before Saturday exercises. “Always be a game student, at all times attempt to develop, because it would be so many opportunities in which I can look back and say that it was the moment after I grew up as a playmaker.
“That’s right now, I’m just trying to grow as much as possible, put my best foot forward and just look for development.”
Derick E. Hingle/Getty Images
Milroe was asked that he was one other playmaker in Alabama to succeed in the mix, following in the footsteps of the role (who moved to Oklahoma in 2019), Tavailoa, Mac Jones and Bryce Young. Milroe said he appreciates being in the company of others, but he added that it’s difficult to check him with others.
“We had different bands, we had different players around us, we had a different system,” he said.
But when he specifically asked what he could study the journey of Hurts-from the first manager of the game after the super Bowl-Milroe master said he inspired him his companion Alabam.
“The most important thing I learned from J. Hurts is how he kept his head (I) always continued to work,” said Milroe. “He at all times raised his game, he has never been self -deserved, and all the pieces you see is great progress from him.
“And I have to applaud him as a person, he as a man, because he is definitely inspiring for many playmakers of my image, as well as many playmakers throughout the country. He leads to all of us. “
The couple isn’t completely similar. Hurts had about 20 kilos on Milroe when he was in college. Milroe has a stronger arm, while Hurts played more and not using a mistake of football: Milroe threw 17 interceptions and ate 67 bags for 2 seasons as a starter in comparison with 10 captures Hurts and 43 bags.
But they can each be changing the game when their teams need them. In a highly publicized match against Georgia at the starting of the last season, Milroe finished almost 82% of his passes on 374 yards and two appointments, adding 117 yards to the ground for the next two results.
Milroe can also match the wounds in the so -called “Jalen-ISMS. “
“Climbing upstairs is not easy, but when you reach the top of this mountain, you will learn so many things when it comes to adversity when it comes to difficulties, things along the way,” said Milroe in a mix.
Sports
Like Tommie Smith and John Carlos from 1968. Black Power Salute inspired me to find my goal

I’d say that I grew up within the household to be sure that that me and my siblings were aware of the black history. My parents invested in the gathering of black encyclopedias. On the duvet we had a version of the Bible with Black Jesus. Our house was stuffed with books of black novelists and thinkers, and if a black document appeared, we watched it. I watched all movies made on television about Dr. King, each “Roots” and “Alex Haley’s Queen” and I sat for all 14 hours “Eyes on the reward”-as a toddler. Bless my heart.
Having said this, there have been pockets of black history, and more likely that I had no opportunity to delve into once I was a toddler. The college was where all the will for information and understanding of the combined. I attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., One of a very powerful historically black universities within the country. It was there that I met people from around the globe whose knowledge about black history differed (often depending on the colleges and the communities by which we lived), but everyone had hunger to learn more.
One day, through the first yr, I remember one among my friends in a T -shirt by which I had definitely seen before, but I never paid attention to. There was a black and white screen printing on the shirt (what I do know now) the enduring moment on the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968, where on the rostrum for 200-meter medals, Tommie Smith, John Carlos (races 1. And 3. Place Finaners) Everyone gathered a black fist in gloves while he played “Star Spangled Banner”. Peter Norman, the second place from Australia, wore a human rights badge, like Smith and Carlos.
Not only did they raise the fist of black power (although they each said it was for human rights), they received medals in black socks to represent poverty within the black community, and Smith wore a black scarf for black pride. Carlos showed solidarity with blue-wheeled employees, unpacking the jacket and wore a necklace from the beads for individuals who were lynched. Due to the state of Black America in 1968 and a continuing struggle for equality and civil rights, there have been calls to a boycott of the Games. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was also killed in April this yr – and all three athletes were inspired enough to find a way to do it on the rostrum, which led to one of the crucial durable images of public protest.
I remember how I learned history and realized that on the most important scene these brave men used their moment of triumph and victory to quietly protest against the conditions of underrated communities in America. I felt strengthened; We often discuss standing on the arms of giants, however the more I got into the history of black in America, the more I spotted what number of giants there have been. In college I used to be very bad and for a while ready to burn every part that represented the establishment or any obstacle to black liberation. I felt like all those individuals who even saw their space on the planet in reference to individuals who could never give you the option to speak as heroes whose lives were to be modeled later. Especially since it was also fastidiously that putting people in front of him can often bring an enormous personal loss.
When Smith and Carlos took their position, they were booed on the stadium and ordered to be sent home by the International Olympic Committee. The athletes returned home, but they weren’t welcomed by the hero, but as a substitute of rough sleds, and even in some cases the specter of death. They were also not beloved by athletes. Two men, associated eternally in history, even have a good relationship –Carlos even claims that he let Smith go within the race Because “Tommie Smith would never put his fist in the sky if I won this race,” the claim that Smith denies.
History ultimately has a way of rights, but it surely took a few years and realizations on the front of social policy, in order that the actions of those persons are perceived as brave and needed, not only selfish and smug.
The lessons that I learned from College and continuous reading and education I gained (my head remained within the book about black history) were one among the best advantages in HBCU. The very variety of books I learned about about which I actually have never heard of – I actually have upheld me all my life.
That is why I remember sooner or later I used to be walking around Washington, the eastern Washington market and a street seller was selling different photos of moments in black history, and he had a 40 -inch photo within the Tommie Smith and John Carlos frame. I paid for it in money and spent it across the capital of the country until I returned home. I do know that it happened in 2005 (I finished Morehouse College in 2001) because I just moved to my first apartment with no roommate and it was the very first thing that I actually have ever suspended on the wall. This picture within the frame still hangs on the wall in my home in 2025 and I used it to teach my children about sacrifice and privilege and how you may have to discuss individuals who cannot.

The query that my youngest children often ask: “How do I know who can’t speak for herself?” Which is an incredible query. For this I answered an easy fact, pointing to the photo:
“These men have made a gesture that gave people whose most of us, including them, would never see or never know them, but on which life negatively affects the alternatives of the wealthy and the federal government. Sometimes you may have to take this chance to say something because you do not know in the event you’ll ever have such a big platform.
Son, there may be at all times someone who cannot speak for himself, and you may have to use it in a voice, because perhaps the thing you say or a stand that can help someone you understand, live a greater life. ”
I take advantage of words that may understand a little bit higher, but I can inform you that my children have a look at this photo on a regular basis, and once one among my sons said: “These guys are heroes, right?”
I say yes, they’re. They are the heroes of the Black History.
They will live eternally for speaking, and even quietly, in solidarity with those that couldn’t.

(Tagstranslate) @Ap
Sports
Main Treasury Official Morgan State University, Sterling Steward, died

Morgan State University announced that his older associate athletics director and tax director, Sterling Steward, died.
No reason for death was disclosed, but the college has confirmed his contribution since he was employed in December 2022.
Morgan State University Athletics mourns Sterling Steward’s departure https://t.co/avjzilxhja
– Grizzly Life (@grizzlylife22) February 26, 2025
Steward died on February 26. In Morgan State he was accountable for the event of university programs, supporting partnerships and strengthening the financial and operational success of the Faculty.
“Sterling was more than a colleague-he was a respected leader, mentor and friend,” said in a written statement by Den Freeman-Patton, vice chairman and director of inter-university athletes. “His passion for athletics and commitment to raising Morgan programs were visible in everything he did. He worked tirelessly to ensure that our sports students had resources and the possibilities of distinction, and its impact will be felt for many years. We expand our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, especially his three sons and sister when we mourn this huge loss. “
While the steward worked in Morgan, strategic growth and cooperation occurred. His work with the institutional development department helped to offer more opportunities and created lasting relationships to support sports programs.
Steward earlier he worked At the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an assistant to the college athletics director for strategic income generation. He also made stays on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Savannah State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Eastern Oregon University and Xavier University in various roles, including for a senior consultant athletics director and sports director.
He was from New Orleans, who received the title of bachelor and master’s degree on the University of Southern Mississippi. He won a bachelor’s degree in the sphere of coaching and administration/history of sport and his master’s degree in the sphere of sport management.
(Tagstransate) Morgan State Universiry
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