The globally esteemed UW-Whitewater Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team is underway with a brand new season coming off the program’s 14th national championship in 2024. While three of the Warhawks five starters have departed from the 2o24 championship team, a new class of seven freshmen will look to maintain the program’s excellence.
Whitewater hosted a home tournament Friday Nov. 22 and Saturday Nov. 23 at Kachel Fieldhouse. An opportunity for members of the team to feel the love from their own community.
Warhawk head coach and the 2024 Paralympics MVP for team USA, Jake Williams, said that playing on a home court provides a great atmosphere and support from their fans.
“Whitewater always gives us great support with this tournament,” Williams said. “That’s what it is all about here at Whitewater Wheelchair Basketball. We have always been a place where all the top teams come and play so we’re definitely happy to host those big tournaments.”
Junior Cameron Poole added that the tournament provides an atmosphere hard to come by throughout the program’s mostly away tournaments and is an important reminder about the team’s role at the university.
“Quite honestly you don’t really see that [support] on the road at all,” he said. “So, one thing I love about our home tournament is the overall energy and support they have for us. You can really feel how much a part of the campus we really are here and how much hard work the guys before us put in to grow our sport and to make it a staple on the campus.”
The Warhawks finished the tournament with a 1-3 record. Whitewater suffered losses to the University of Texas-Arlington (57-51) , the University of Alabama (79-70) and the University of Arizona (76-59), but bounced back with a win against the University of Illinois (67-59).
“We [have] a good young team with a lot of talent … I’m seeing some really good things out on the court and I’m seeing some things that show our youth, but I think we’re in a good spot right now,” Williams said about the team’s performance.
Despite losing talent during the off-season, the Warhawks brought in seven freshmen members in their place. Poole said that so far the team’s newcomers have made a seamless transition into the program.
“The chemistry on the team so far is fantastic even with the addition of these new people, we are all getting along, we are all having a great time and honestly it’s just so much fun to be a part of,” he said.
Now, with no tournaments until Friday Jan. 31, the team has even longer to get acclimated to their new dynamic. According to Williams, the team sticks to a rigorous training schedule between tournaments and tries to “get better everyday.” Poole added that the team has practice in the morning with a scrimmage in the evening and all the players workout in the weight room several days a week.
This two month break is an important period for the team as the season starts to pick up in February with tournaments almost every weekend, followed by Nationals in March.
“We put our foot on the gas so to speak and just refine and work on what we learned here at this home tournament and really just kind of get at it every morning,” Poole said. “Just because we don’t have a tournament doesn’t mean practices stop. We’re still at it.”
Being part of such a decorated program, Poole said, comes with a sense of responsibility to work and and put forward your best effort to build the team’s legacy, “not only for the team you’re currently on but the ones before you and the teams after you.”
“Every good basketball team feels like they played their best, but every great basketball team knows that there’s more they can squeeze out,” he said. “Did we play well this – yes – did the guys play great? Absolutely, I was proud of every one of us and how we played, but as every great team knows there’s more we can squeeze out … we are competitive athletes so we always feel like there’s more than we can do.”
