Full-time scientist and part-time basketball player Canyon Barry chases gold in 3x3 at Paris Games

PARIS (AP) — Canyon Barry is a part-time basketball player.

His full-time job is system engineer for a defense and space contractor.

Barry, who will take the courts at the Paris Games searching for a 3x3 gold medal for the U.S. men's team, has an undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston in physics and a master’s degree in nuclear engineering from Florida. So, is he a rocket scientist? A nuclear physicist?

“Scientist, engineer, problem-solver, take your pick,” said Barry, with a slight chuckle and a wink.

As for what his work entails with the aerospace and defense company L3Harris Technologies, Barry is tight-lipped.

“I’ve talked to L3Harris and they’ve said to not give too much specifics in terms of programs that we’re working on for clearance and security reasons,” he said. “But we have a great international compliance and trade security. (And) they briefed me on all this stuff and just said kind of leave it at systems engineering.”

The U.S. men lost their opener Tuesday night against Serbia. The Americans play Poland on Wednesday.

When not with teammates Jimmer Fredette, Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis preparing for the Olympics, the son of Hall of Famer and NBA champion Rick Barry is often on his laptop working on projects for L3Harris Technologies.

Because of the team’s international travel in the run up to the Paris Games, Barry would be taking zoom calls and doing his day job in the middle of the night while the rest of the team was sleeping.

The 30-year-old Barry appreciates the support he’s received from the company as he's prepared for the Olympics. He’s on vacation from his job during the Games to devote his full attention to the chase for gold.

“Really fortunate to work for that company and what they’ve allowed me to do,” Barry said. “And I also think that they’ve really matched up with the Olympic spirit because they protect our U.S. war fighters abroad and kind of bringing that American spirit is really cool.”

The 6-foot-5 Barry was interested in science from a young age, and despite being born into a basketball family, his mother, Lynn Barry, made academics the top priority in their home.

“She would always say: ‘You never know what’s going to happen with sports in terms of injuries or when might be your last game,’” he said. “So having … a career that you’re passionate about and can kind of have an identity outside of sports means a lot to me. Because now, when the ball does stop bouncing, I know that I have a passion and a job that I can go back to that I find fulfillment in and can really enjoy that for the rest of my life.”

While Barry’s teammates appreciate his intellect and attention to detail on the court, there are times where they tire of him correcting them off it.

“That’s never fun," Fredette said. "He’s always trying to be like no, this is how you say it, or this is the right way to do it. So, he’s always making sure that we’re on our P's and Q's.”

Still, it’s all love between Fredette and Barry.

“You can see it when he plays on the court, he has a similar thinking aspect of how he likes to play the game,” Fredette said. “So, he’s obviously one of my best friends — love the guy — and don’t tell him I said it, but he’s super smart.”

Though his scientific brain is most often used for that top-secret government work, he’s also used physics to justify an unconventional part of his game. His father famously shot underhand free throws or “granny shots” and he’s done the same throughout his career.

“There’s been a bunch of physics articles that have come out in terms of it’s a more repeatable motion,” Barry said. “When you shoot free throws overhanded your wrist, your elbow and your shoulder all have to fire at the correct time and move in to create the proper trajectory and launch angle and arc. Versus for an underhand shot, it’s really just your shoulder.

"So, with one joint, you’re really simplifying the shot.”

Barry’s family is with him in Paris as he’ll try to help the U.S. men have a better outcome than they did in the last Olympics. The men didn’t qualify in the sport's debut at the Tokyo Games — though the American women won gold.

He’ll also have a room full of scientists rooting for him back in Melbourne, Florida. His co-workers hosted an ice cream party as a sendoff, where everyone wore T-shirts they had made in his honor.

“It said: ‘Go Canyon,’ and then had a picture of the Eiffel Tower with a satellite orbiting instead of the basketball,” he said.

And when he returns to Florida, he hopes it’s with some special hardware.

“I would love nothing more than to come back to that office with a gold medal," Barry said, “and let all of them feel it and take pictures with it."

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Canyon Barry of the United States shoots in the men's 3x3 basketball pool round match between Serbia and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Team USA basketball athlete, Canyon Barry, talks with people before departing from the airport on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Canyon Barry of the United States looks to shoot in the men's 3x3 basketball pool round match between Serbia and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Canyon Barry of the United States runs onto the court at the start of the men's 3x3 basketball pool round match between Serbia and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Canyon Barry of the United States talks to a referee in the men's 3x3 basketball pool round match between Serbia and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Canyon Barry of the United States fends off Mihailo Vasic of Serbia in the men's 3x3 basketball pool round match between Serbia and the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”

“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.

Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.

Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.

Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.

Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.

The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)