Steve Serio
Serio in 2011
Personal information
Full nameSteven Serio
NicknameSteve
Nationality United States
Born (1987-09-08) September 8, 1987
Mineola, New York, U.S.
Height5 ft 6 in (168 cm) (2011)
Weight180 lb (82 kg) (2011)
Sport
Country United States
SportWheelchair Basketball
College teamUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
TeamNew York Rolling Knicks (NWBA)
Turned pro2010
Medal record
Men's wheelchair basketball
Representing  United States
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place2020 TokyoTeam
Gold medal – first place2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam
Bronze medal – third place2012 LondonTeam
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 DubaiTeam
Silver medal – second place 2018 Hamburg Team
Silver medal – second place 2014 Incheon Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Birmingham Team
Silver medal – second place 2006 Amsterdam Team
Parapan American Games
Gold medal – first place2023 SantiagoTeam

Steven Serio (born September 8, 1987) 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[1] and defended the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.[2] He currently plays for the New York Rolling Knicks in the NWBA Championship Division.[3]

He grew up in Westbury, New York and graduated from Carle Place High School in 2005. When Steve was 11 months old, he had surgery to remove a spinal tumor which resulted in the compression of his spinal cord. Consequently, he was left paralyzed and is classified as an incomplete paraplegic.[4]

Steve began his wheelchair basketball career as a sophomore in high school with the Long Island Lightning, the only competitive junior wheelchair basketball team in New York State.[5] He was a tremendous asset to this team, eventually leading them to the team's first National Championship in 2005 where was named the tournament MVP.[6] In that same year, he played on a USA U-23 Team played at the Australian Junior National Games for the Disabled in Sydney.[6]

He played point guard for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Steve was named a 2nd Team All-American in both the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 seasons at Illinois.[7] At the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament at Oklahoma State University on March 15, 2008, Steve led the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to a NIWBA Championship over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.[8] Steve took home the Championship Game Player of the Game, NWBA Tournament MVP, and the NWBA 31st NIWBT Player of the Year in the process.[9]

Steve also plays on the U.S. Paralympics Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team, which came in second place at the World Championships in Amsterdam in the summer of 2006.[10] In the summer of 2007, the U.S. National Team won a gold medal at the Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Steve made his Paralympic debut with the U.S. National Team in 2008 in Beijing, China.[11] The team finished in fourth place, just missing a medal. Since the disappointing Paralympics, the U.S. National Team took the gold medal at the 2009 America's Cup in Richmond, Canada[12] and finished third at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship in Birmingham, England.[13]

He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2010, where he studied Kinesiology.

He is currently living in Germany and playing for RSV Lahn-Dill. His contract was recently extended through the 2016 season.[14]

Major achievements

Juniors

  • 2005: First place - Junior National Wheelchair Basketball Championships
  • 2005: Tournament MVP - Junior National Wheelchair Basketball Championships
  • 2005: Gold medal - World Junior Basketball Championships

Intercollegiate

  • 2008: National Champion - U.S. Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball
  • 2008: MVP - NWBA College Division

US National Team

Professional

  • 2011: German DRS Cup Champion
  • 2011: German Championship
  • 2011: IWBF Champions League Silver Medal
  • 2012: German DRS Cup Champion
  • 2012: German Championship
  • 2021: IWBF Champions Cup Champion[15]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Westbury's Serio helps USA to gold medal". newsday.com. September 18, 2016. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  2. ↑ "USA retain men's wheelchair basketball Paralympic title after dramatic win over Japan". Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Who will rule the Rollstuhl this year?". FIBA.basketball.
  4. ↑ "U.S. Paralympic Athlete Biography". usolympicteam.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
  5. ↑ "United States Olympic Committee Article 3/20/06". usoc.org. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
  6. 1 2 "USOC Athlete Spotlight: Steve Serio". usoc.org. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
  7. ↑ "Past NIWBA All-American Teams". students.uww.edu. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Fighting Illini Men's Wheelchair Basketball Page". disability.uiuc.edu. Archived from the original on February 21, 2007.
  9. ↑ "Daily Illini Newspaper Article 3/24/08". dailyillini.com.
  10. ↑ "2006 U.S. Paralympics Men's Wheelchair Basketball Team Defeated by Canada in IWBF Gold Cup Final". usoc.org. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Newsfeed". usocpressbox.org.
  12. ↑ "USA Wins Gold". nwba.org. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Day Ten - Finals - British Wheelchair Basketball". gbwba.org.uk. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
  14. ↑ die.interaktiven. "Details - RSV Lahn-Dill". rsvlahndill.de.
  15. ↑ "Ascended to the European throne for the seventh time". rsvlahndill.de.
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