No. 14–Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Guard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
League | National Wheelchair Basketball Association | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | March 5, 1979|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft (183 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
High school | Manchester High School (Manchester, Michigan) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College | University of Texas at Arlington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
|
Paul Schulte (born 1979) is an American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player.
Schulte grew up in Manchester, Michigan with a love of sports. In 1989, he was in a car accident at the age of 10 in which he was paralyzed from the waist down. At 14, he was introduced to the Paralympic sport of wheelchair basketball. Throughout high school, Paul played for the varsity division Grand Rapids Junior Pacers. The Pacers won two varsity division national championships during this time, with Schulte named as the National Most Valuable Player in his senior year.
In 1997, he accepted a full ride athletic scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington. At 18 years old, during his freshman season at UT Arlington, Schulte was invited to try out for the U.S. men's Paralympic wheelchair basketball team. He won a position on the team and his basketball career began to skyrocket. Schulte went on to become a four-time Paralympian competing at the Games in Sydney, Beijing, London, and Paris. Additionally he won two world championship titles and in 2002 was awarded tournament MVP at the world championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.
During his senior year of college, Schulte's team won the Intercollegiate Championship where he received Most Valuable Player, Academic All-American, and Sportsmanship honors. UT-Arlington later retired his jersey number 20 in his honor.
He went on to become a five-time national champion with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and was named MVP for the championship division three times. Along the way, Schulte has been nominated for both the Laureus and ESPY awards as Best Male Athlete of the Year with a Disability.
Schulte was invited to the White House on numerous occasions Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Schulte retired from the national team from 2015 to 2023 and served as a broadcast commentator for NBC Sports during the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Eight years after retirement, Schulte returned to competitive wheelchair basketball where he made his fourth Paralympic Team for the Paris 2024 Games where the team would go on to win their third consecutive gold.
Schulte graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and currently serves as president for adaptive sport equipment manufacturer Top End Sports LLC (Pinellas Park, FL). Schulte and his high school sweetheart Meghan Greenwald were married in 2000 and their son Brady was born in 2010.
The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the international governing body for the sport of Wheelchair Basketball. IWBF is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as the sole competent authority in wheelchair basketball worldwide. International Basketball Federation has recognized IWBF under Article 53 of its General Statutes.
Bradley John Ness, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketballer. He won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing and silver medals at 2004 Athens and 2012 London Paralympics. He was selected as the Australian flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. In December 2023, Ness was appointed the Head Coach of the Rollers - Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team.
The IWBF World Wheelchair Basketball Championship is an international wheelchair basketball competition contested by the men's and the women's national teams of the members of the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), the sport's global governing body.
The European Wheelchair Basketball Championship, is the main wheelchair basketball competition contested biennially by national teams governed by IWBF Europe, the European zone within the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation. The European Championship is also a qualifying tournament for the IWBF Wheelchair Basketball World Championships and the Paralympic Games.
Steven Dillon Serio is a wheelchair basketball player. As a co-captain of the USA Men's National Wheelchair Basketball Team, he led the American men to their first Paralympic gold medal since 1988 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games and defended the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. He currently plays for the New York Rolling Knicks in the NWBA Championship Division.
Shelley Matheson is an Australian 3.5-point player wheelchair basketball player. She participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal, and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a second silver medal, a win she dedicated to her lifelong friend Shannon.
Matt Scott is an American wheelchair basketball player.
Wheelchair basketball at the 2012 Summer Paralympics was held from 30 August to 8 September. Competitions were held at the newly built Basketball Arena, which seated 10,000 spectators, and The O2 Arena. Australia were the defending champions of the men's championship, while the United States were the defending champions of the women's championship.
Kylie Gauci is an Australian Paralympic 2-point wheelchair basketball player. She participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal, and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a second silver medal. Gauci represented Australia at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Championships, and was named to the World All Star 5 at the World Championships in Amsterdam in 2006. She has played over 180 international games.
Cobi Crispin is a 4 point wheelchair basketball forward from Western Australia. She began playing wheelchair basketball in 2003 when she was 17 years old. The Victorian Institute of Sport and Direct Athlete Support (DAS) program have provided assistance to enable her to play. She played club basketball in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League (WNWBL) for the Victorian Dandenong Rangers in 2012 after having previously played for the Western Stars. In 2015 she began playing for the Minecraft Comets. She played for the University of Alabama in the United States in 2013–15.
Justin Cain Eveson, OAM is an Australian swimmer and wheelchair basketball player who has won Paralympic medals in both sports.
Shaun Daryl Norris, OAM is an Australian wheelchair basketball player. He was a member of the Rollers at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, his sixth Games.
David Ian Gould, is an Australian wheelchair basketball player and coach.
Georgia Inglis is a 2.5 point Australian wheelchair basketball player. She was part of the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team at the Osaka Cup in Japan in February 2013, and at the Asia-Oceania Zone Qualifiers in Bangkok in November 2013. She played with the Perth Western Stars team that won the Women's National Wheelchair basketball League (WNWBL) championship title in 2013.
Joy Haizelden is a 2.5 point British wheelchair basketball player who was the youngest player to represent Great Britain at the 2014 Women's World Wheelchair Basketball Championship in Toronto. She also went to Paris to compete at the 2024 Paralympics.
The United States men's national wheelchair basketball team began in 1955 when the Pam Am Jets brought wheelchair basketball to Europe at the International Stoke Mandville Games, albeit in the form of netball. Shortly following the Pan Am Jets' dominating performance at the International Stoke Mandville Games, wheelchair netball was switched to wheelchair basketball for all future Games.
Annabelle Lindsay is a 4.5 point Australian wheelchair basketball player. She made her international debut with the Australian women's national wheelchair basketball team at the Osaka Cup in February 2017. In May 2019, she was part of the U25 National team that won silver at the 2019 Women's U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Suphanburi, Thailand.
Ella Sabljak is an Australian 1.0 point wheelchair basketball and 2.5 wheelchair rugby player. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in basketball and at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, she won a bronze medal in wheelchair rugby with the Steelers.
Wheelchair basketball in the United States is governed by the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA). The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF), and the US Olympic Committee recognize the NWBA as the official national organization. Internationally, both the men's and women's national teams participate in Paralympic and World Championships as well as regional tournaments.
The UT Arlington Movin' Mavs men's wheelchair basketball team, previously known as the UTA Freewheelers, is the men's college wheelchair basketball team representing the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Established in 1976 as the UTA Freewheelers, the team played at the club level against other colleges and universities in Texas during the 1970s and 1980s. It has played under the auspices of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) since 1988, when the team was renamed the Movin' Mavs. Its inaugural coach, from 1976 until 2008, was Jim Hayes. The team was coached by Doug Garner from 2008 until 2022 when he retired. In fall of 2022, Aaron Gouge was hired as the new head coach for the team.