At the age of 25, the Agenais Alexandre Aygalenq has been selected for the French 3×3 basketball team. A first accomplishment in the career of a player who does not lack ambition.
A long way, Alexandre Aygalenq has made it. The basketball player born in Agen donned the outfit of the French 3×3 basketball team in Tel Aviv (Israel). He was selected to play in the qualifying tournament for the European Cup, from June 3 to 5, after preparation on the side of Antibes. A first step in an intense month of June where the World Cup will take place, from June 21 to 26 in Antwerp (Belgium). But the Agenais sets no limits. “The objective is to do everything, I want to invest myself fully in the adventure! I feel good, ready to go.”
A long journey
Before getting there, Alexandre Aygalenq took his first steps on the courts of Lot-et-Garonne, in basketball 5 against 5. “All my family lives near Agen, my parents are in Astaffort. So I started to play at the Agen Basket Club. At 14, I took my first real step in Tarbes where I was at boarding school. Then, at 15, I joined the Boulazac training center for three year.” Then Alexandre Aygalenq continues on his way. First of all, in Chalon/Saône where he competed in the Pro A hope championship before returning to Boulazac where he signed his first professional contract. An opportunity that allows him to scratch a few minutes in Pro A (Jeep Elite at the time). “But at the end of the first professional season, they told me that it was better for me that I go and take playing time elsewhere”, he regrets. So he wandered before returning to the Southwest, to Toulouse, in the summer of 2021. In the Pink City, he had an interesting first season on a personal level with more than 9 points on average. “As for the future, I’m waiting to see the opportunities that come my way, although at the moment I’m very focused on 3×3.”
3×3, a different sport
Because in addition to 5-a-side basketball, Alexandre Aygalenq has fully blossomed in 3×3 since the start of his adventure with the France team at the start of 2020. “I was contacted to do a first internship. It went very well. past, I discovered the state of mind, the game that was offered and it immediately stuck. Afterwards, there was the confinement, so that annihilated the preparation for the U23 World Cup. But they told me resold in November 2020 to be a training partner for the France A team, which has competed in all the major competitions such as the Olympics”, he recalls. An unforgettable experience that allowed him to set foot in this environment.
From now on, while a renewal of the workforce has been carried out, he intends to hoist his name in the four selected for international competitions. Since his first internship with the Blues, Alexandre Aygalenq has been in total harmony with the principles of 3 against 3. He explains: “It’s quite instinctive as a game, we go back to the fundamentals. In 5×5, we fall into game patterns who are a bit robotic whereas in 3×3 the game only lasts 10 minutes so there is no time to calculate, it’s very defensively focused as there are only 12 seconds of possession. It’s rhythmic, you can’t cheat. If defensively you try to save yourself, you penalize your team because you collect baskets easily. Also, there is autonomy because the coach cannot intervene during the match, the players manage themselves. We players have to be complete because there is defence, outside shooting, etc. We don’t have a fixed position, you have to master a bit of everything.” Trained at the back position in 5 against 5, the Agenais puts all these qualities into practice in the blue jersey. This allows him, at 25, to qualify for a selection for the World Cup.
