Illinois Wins Men’s Wheelchair Basketball National Championship

posted on Mar 31 by Admin in the Fun, Wheelchair Sports category

The Illinois Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team took their title of national champions back from their rivals Wisconsin-Whitewater. Since September it has been the Illinois Men’s Wheelchairs Basketball team’s goal to avenge themselves for last year’s loss and win back their title. Not only did they win the championship defeating their rivals 66-55, but they also went undefeated this season.

“We came together as a team so much more this year. Last year we were cocky, but this year we bonded and we knew what one another were thinking,” junior Brian Bell said. This is tournament VIP Steve Serio’s fourth year playing on the Illinois Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team, and he has seen the team go through some experiences. As a team veteran he knew what it would take to lead his team to victory and that’s exactly what he did.  Even when the team was down at halftime, the team came back and scored 42 points  to take the win with his leadership.

“This season we basically played a completely different style. We had a lot more high-paced tempo and we had some great guards,” Serio said. “We just switched it up right from the beginning.” Serio also credits the dynamic of having more international players as part of the great makeup for this year’s team. Twenty-five percent of this year’s players were from overseas compared to the usual one or two.

Illinois head coach Mike Frogley attributes the team’s win to their ability to use each others abilities and unite to use them against the other team’s weaknesses. The team has been completely humble with their win and sure to not let it go to their heads. “You can’t recreate a team like this,” Frogley said. “They are a really smart group of players and their work ethic is phenomenal. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime teams.”