Sports Spotlight: Chandler Piggé
Graphic by Kerrie Zhu
This July, senior guard and captain of the men’s basketball team Chandler Piggé ’26 traveled to Bochum, Germany, to help Team USA secure the silver medal in 3×3 basketball at the 2025 FISU Summer World University Games.
“It was my first time representing the United States in international competition, which was very awesome… To have my family’s name on the back of my jersey as well made it mean so much more,” Piggé said in an interview with the Harvard Independent.
3×3 basketball is the largest urban team game in the world—originating as a street sport and played three-a-side on one hoop. 3×3 competition was added to the Olympic Games during the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in Tokyo in 2021, and this summer marked its debut at the World University Games. With Piggé on the roster, Team USA defeated Chile and Italy to win Group A before advancing to conquer Poland and the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. The team faced Lithuania in the finals and ultimately clinched the silver medal after losing 16-21 in a tight competition.
Born in Houston and raised on military bases in Japan and Germany, family influence was always a guiding factor for Piggé. His mother is an Army education counselor, and his father who works for the Department of Defense as a teacher and high school basketball coach influenced his decision to play. “My dream was always to play for my dad… He always taught me that the fundamentals were the most important, just playing the game simply, making sure that you involve your other teammates around you because it’s a team sport, not an individual game.”
Piggé ultimately played under his father, achieving three consecutive high school championships before joining the Crimson roster. Upon graduating from Baumholder American High School, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy for a post-graduate year, after which he came to Harvard.
Outside of his accolades, basketball had always been a mode of cultural connection for Piggé, having grown up playing the game in multiple countries abroad and in the United States. Every summer, Piggé would return to Houston to participate in AAU Basketball tournaments and camps, where he felt challenged to develop his skills, facing competitors at a higher level than he had experienced in Japan and Germany. Reflecting on his experience at the University Games, Piggé remarked that interacting off the court with teams from diverse backgrounds, trading team pins, and sharing experiences reminded him of his multicultural upbringing in other countries but on a larger scale—making the experience even more meaningful.
Now in his final year, Piggé has risen through the ranks of Harvard basketball, an experience that he attributes to his father’s instruction.
“I started off on the bench, not playing at all. I was a guy who played sparingly to a guy who eventually became a starter, and now I’m a team captain for our team,” he said. “That’s due to my work ethic and my discipline in terms of how I approach the game, something, once again, from my dad.”
This success has not only been represented by his stellar stats but further reflected by a number of awards and honors.
In his freshman season, Piggé was awarded the Floyd S. Wilson Sportsmanship Award, which is given to the Harvard basketball player “whose respect for sportsmanship recalls the manner and values of Floyd Wilson,” a storied former coach for the Crimson who served the team for 14 years. During his junior year and first year as captain, he won the team’s Raymond P. Lavietes Most Valuable Player award, determined by player vote, as well as the Thomas G. Stemberg ’71 MBA ’73 Iron Man Award, presented to the Harvard player who plays the most minutes in the season.
Just as his father guided him through high school basketball, Coach Tommy Amaker has been another fundamental figure in Piggé’s journey. “Just seeing the way he leads us before and off the court, he wants us to really succeed… A lot of us have professional goals, so being able to succeed in that, but also being able to be great men as well, and being able to take advantage of the network that we have here at Harvard.”
Piggé’s immediate goal after graduation this spring is to pursue a career in professional basketball. However, as a psychology concentrator, he is also pursuing opportunities in sports psychology. “I’d like to pursue sports psychology to be able to interact with the next generation of young athletes and talk to them more about the mental side of the game, and help them in the midst of their careers.”
Above all, Piggé attributes his success to his faith throughout his basketball career. “I always say that I’m grateful to God for the opportunity that he’s blessed me with, to be able to be at Harvard and to have opportunities like this.”
Whitney Ford ’28 (wford@college.harvard.edu) writes Sports for the Independent.