Update, 9.9.12: Video highlights from the U.S. Paralympics Division of the U.S. Olympic Committee:
Today in London, at the Paralympic Games, the United States defeated Great Britain to win a bronze medal in wheelchair basketball in international competition. It’s an extraordinary accomplishment, to reach the highest level of competition, against athletes from around the world.
(The American women’s team came close to a medal, too, falling short in a difficult match for the bronze against the Netherlands.)
UW-Whitewater’s wheelchair basketball program, winner of almost a dozen national championships, played a vital role in America’s medal-winning effort:
When he’s not helping first-time offenders avoid prison at the Dane County District Attorney’s Office, Melvin Juette helps coach the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team, which Saturday won a bronze medal in the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Juette is not the only Wisconsin tie to the team. The state is a hub for wheelchair basketball, thanks in part to the strong program at UW-Whitewater.
Six of the 12 members of the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team in this year’s games played for UW-Whitewater, which has won 11 national titles. The school also boasts the current national championship women’s team, and several Warhawks women competed on the U.S. and other national teams in the Paralympics. Juette and fellow assistant coach Tom Colwell also played for UW-Whitewater.
So very well and admirably done.