Four University of Melbourne student-athletes shared an experience of a lifetime in Brazil
On 11 November, Joshua McNally (Master of Teaching), Kai Garnaut (Bachelor of Arts), Dihan Wiggett (Bachelor of Commerce), and Aleksandar Bandilovski (Bachelor of Commerce) set off on the long journey to Brasilia, Brazil. If you had asked them at the beginning of the year if they thought this was possible, it’s doubtful they would have expected this, all four of them having played 3x3 for the first time this year.
“I haven’t been playing it for very long. I never thought we would go that far, but we also worked hard for this, and I’m proud of what we have accomplished,” shared Team Captain McNally.
The journey:
In April this year, three out of four of the boys played in a King of the Court 3x3 tournament representing the University, which they won, igniting a new interest in the 3x3 competition style. While this tournament had no bearing within the UniSport competition, it gave them some confidence moving forward.
When the time came, and with the new addition of Bandilovski, they were ready to take on the Universities from around Australia in the 2025 UniSport 3x3 Basketball Nationals. After an early loss to Deakin University, the boys fought hard to overcome Sydney University in the final and were named Champions. This win earned them qualification to play in the FISU 3x3 Oceania Qualifiers in Auckland, New Zealand.
The team headed to Auckland with plenty of confidence, more than they had before the UniSport tournament.
And win they did, only dropping one game, this time to the University of Sydney, before beating them in the final once again. This win mattered more because, this time, only the top team would progress to the FISU 3x3 Basketball World Cup.
After winning two UniSport Nationals Gold medals and the Oceania qualifiers, the team’s chemistry was building, and their confidence was growing. While they knew the competition in Brazil would be next level, the boys were hungry for success and eager to show the rest of the world what they could do.
The experience:
It was an opportunity that doesn’t come around every day, and they made sure to soak it all up!
“It was an extremely professional experience, from opening ceremonies to post-game interviews and media day. I’ve never experienced something like this before, a crazy spectacle, playing against people from across the world,” said Bandilovski.
Knowing how rare an experience like this is, the players didn’t want to take any of it for advantage. This was particularly important to McNally,
“Travelling overseas to play basketball has been a dream of mine since I was a kid and first started playing basketball! I loved being a part of this team; it was a lot of fun.”
The tournament lasted two days, meaning a quick turnaround between games and a gruelling schedule for a team that had flown 36 hours to be there. While it was the boys' first time at the tournament, they took on the reigning Champions, Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania), up first, falling to the eventual Champions 12-21.
It wasn't the ideal start, and it put the team under pressure. It was their team chemistry, however, that made a difference in the end.
"We were truly competitive and committed to keeping each other accountable and confident through the highs and lows," said Garnaut.
Wiggett credited the time spent playing together in the UBL and UniSport Nationals to their success,
“We have such good chemistry, we’ve been playing 5x5 together for a couple of years, and it’s been awesome to bring it to 3x3.”
It was this chemistry that allowed them to quickly bounce back, beating the University of Anahuac Queretaro (Mexico) 17-16, to finish second in Pool A. They then played a crossover game against Uganda Christian University, which they won 16-12, earning a spot in the finals. They won their Quarterfinal against USIU-Africa (Kenya) 21-19, before falling in OT to the home side, Paulista University (Brazil), 15-16 in the Semi-Final.
The result:
With one last chance to medal, the team faced off against the University of Valencia (Spain) in the Bronze Medal match, taking out the win 21-12 and bringing home the Rose Gold.
It's safe to say that this will be an experience these four will never forget.
The 3x3 Men’s basketball team weren’t the only student-athletes who have had success at FISU events this year; High Jumper, Roman Anastasios (Fine Arts – Film &TV) also won a Bronze medal in Germany at the Summer World University Games.
While Anastasiois was the only University of Melbourne student-athlete to medal at the Summer World University Games, he was joined in the Uniroos team by:
Athletics
Luca Di Conza (Commerce alum)
Rebecca Henderson (Medicine)
Saskia Lloyd (Publishing & Communications alum)
Benjamin Beischer (Medicine)
Badminton
Kaitlyn Ea (Science)
Jordan Wang (Design)
Table Tennis
Rocky Chen (Commerce alum)
Raymond Myrteza (Commerce alum)
Chermaine Quah (Science)
Yueyang Yang (Law alum)
Taekwondo
Rose Abela (Biomedicine)