Finley Bizjack uses games in China prepping for Butler basketball's 'exciting fresh start'
INDIANAPOLIS — Butler junior guard Finley Bizjack's globetrotting last two months playing on the FIBA 3x3 circuit have taught him how to be a more physical basketball player and better leader for the Bulldogs.
Bizjack began his 3x3 career last year alongside forward Boden Kapke playing for Team USA, winning the FIBA 3x3 Under-23 Nations League Americans Conference in Mexico City. Bizjack and Kapke were first introduced to 3x3 through a recommendation from Butler coach Thad Matta. He wanted his players to experience traveling around the world as a way to mature and become better basketball players and leaders.
Bizjack said college basketball is starting to skew older with some players being granted sixth years of eligibility, and NIL deals making it more lucrative to stay in college longer but playing against actual pros was an eye-opening experience.
Bizjack, Kapke, who since transferred to Boston College, and 32 other men and women participated in a three-day developmental camp in April at USA Basketball headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. After the camp, Bizjack, Kapke, Jacob Harvey (Trinity), Caden Pierce (Princeton) and Max Murrell (UC Santa Barbara) were selected to compete as Team Phoenix on the 2025 FIBA 3x3 Men's Pro Circuit.
Last year, Bizjack was 19 years old competing in U23 events against players around his age. Moving to the pro circuit meant Bizjack would play even older opponents. At the developmental camp, Bizjack trained with players like former Northwestern and IU forward Miller Kopp and former Iowa forward Joe Wieskamp, players multiple years his senior, some with years of NBA, G League and overseas experience already under their belts.
"I'm playing against guys with kids and families," Bizjack said. "They're playing to bring home food (for their families). I play basketball because I love it. It's what I do every single day by choice. I do it because I love it. If there wasn't a dollar involved, I'd still do it every single day.
"In China, it was an insane experience, for one, because of the culture shock and, two, playing against older grown men who are playing for things that are bigger than themselves. The physicality amps up a little bit. You can feel that, and you notice it. Tensions are high. It was an insane experience."
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Team Phoenix played five games in three days, going 3-2 and finishing in fourth place at the USA Basketball 3x3 Nationals in Phoenix. Two weeks later, they lost both games in the Xi'an Challenger in Xi'an, China. It lost 15-13 to Brussels, Belgium and two hours later lost 21-15 to a team composed of pros from Turkey, Israel, Hungary and Greece.
Team Phoenix is scheduled to compete at the Edmonton Masters (Aug. 2-3), and additional events may be added as the season continues, per USA Basketball.
Dealing with travel from Dallas to San Francisco and then taking the 15-hour flight to China plus an additional two-hour bus ride was disorienting enough for Bizjack and his teammates. The hoopers also had to deal with the elements, adding another layer of difficulty to their 3x3 experience.
"When we played in China, we played in the morning and it was windy," Bizjack said. "It took away a lot of the 3-pointers (worth two points in 3x3) that you'd get. A lot of 2s that our team excels at, because we're a younger, less physical team, we rely a lot on making 2s.
"So, I had to get to the basket. I had to be more physical, I had to foul sometimes. I had to play like you're supposed to in the Big East. You have to see if you can get away with fouling, because the team that fouls the most and gets away with it wins."
Bizjack learned to adapt on the fly in China, but he had a bit of familiarity playing alongside Kapke. Bizjack said going through the experience with Kapke made the competition much more meaningful. The duo came to Butler and roomed together. They excelled in pick-and-roll situations and were able to grow their chemistry playing 3x3.
"Me and Boden moved into Butler June 4, 2023. We've been brothers ever since that day," Bizjack said. "Having him with me gives me hope that we'll always be able to maintain that bond. Playing with him is super helpful because I've been playing with him for the last 700 and something days.
"I'm super fortunate to have Boden with me because Boden's the type of person who will always pick you first, even if LeBron James is standing next to you. So, I'm very thankful and grateful for Boden and the friendship that we have. I couldn't be more thankful to have him around and in my life now as a person because he's an amazing human."
Kapke was one of five Butler players to enter the transfer portal at the end of the 2024-25 season. Butler is bringing in 10 new players (five transfer, five freshman) making Bizjack and junior walk-on Ethan McComb the longest tenured Bulldogs on the roster. As one of the upperclassmen on the team, Bizjack is looking forward to taking on a leadership role and helping establish a new culture within the program.
"It's 10 new guys, it's an entirely different roster. The things that you said and did in your previous locker room aren't going to be the same here," Bizjack said. "We're definitely looking to introduce more of a traditional Butler culture with toughness and having to earn everything. Nothing is going to be given to us, especially in their league.
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