A New Ballgame : California Connection Helps Texas Arlington Win Titles as Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball Grows

Willie Hernandez dutifully shot hundreds of baskets a day, dreaming about the Fairfax High letterman’s jacket and glory he knew were unobtainable.

As Sean Higgins, Chris Mills and other classmates on the basketball team ran the gym floor at Fairfax, sharpening skills that earned them accolades and college scholarships, Hernandez rolled his wheelchair to the school’s asphalt outdoor courts and worked on his perimeter game.

Hernandez could not have envisioned then that wheelchair basketball would be his vehicle to college.

“I never thought it would pay off,� Hernandez said recently. “I never thought basketball would get me to where I am today.�

Hernandez, 22, is a senior at Texas Arlington, one of only two schools (Illinois is the other) offering full athletic scholarships to physically challenged students. Hernandez, a guard, has teamed with senior point guard Jesus Alamillo of Hollywood and junior center Jason Van Beek of Chino to lead the Movin’ Mavs to two consecutive national collegiate wheelchair basketball championships.

The trio, known around campus as “the California Connection,� recently helped Texas Arlington win a qualifying tournament that will make them the top-seeded team at this year’s Final Four at Illinois in February.

“These kids have paved the way for a new generation of wheelchair basketball players,� Texas Arlington Coach Jim Hayes said. “They’ve brought an up-tempo style of play to the college game, which is just beginning to really grow.�

Wheelchair basketball is not an NCAA-sanctioned sport. Texas Arlington, Illinois, Temple, Southern Illinois, Wright State in Ohio, Southwest State in Minnesota and Wisconsin Whitewater are the only universities that regularly compete on the intercollegiate level. Most of their schedules consist of tournaments and games against more experienced semipro teams that compete in the National Wheelchair Basketball Assn.

Hayes said that Arizona State, Ball State, Kentucky and Tulane have also discussed starting programs.

“We’re looking forward to the day when UCLA, USC, Washington and other West Coast schools can put a program together and give these kids the same opportunities we do,� Hayes said. “There is a genuine respect among our kids and the able-bodied athletes at our school.

“When our guys are talking to the players on the school’s men’s basketball team, they’re usually comparing stats.�

About 450 of Texas Arlington’s 25,000 students are mobility impaired, visually impaired or hearing impaired. About 100 students get around the campus in wheelchairs. The school provides services such as wheelchair repair, note copying, adapted housing, and wheelchair athletic programs in basketball, track and field and tennis.

Texas Arlington began its wheelchair basketball team as a recreational program in 1976. For years, UTA teams made up of undergraduates, graduate students and alumni competed against teams in the NWBA, which was begun in 1949 to allow disabled veterans and others an opportunity to remain competitive athletically.

In 1989, the school decided to field a team on the intercollegiate level so that students could compete against their peers, rather than teams made up of players who had been together for years. Texas Arlington now offers six full scholarships in wheelchair basketball.

Hayes, the director of Texas Arlington’s Handicapped Student Services, saw Hernandez compete in several sprints at a junior national track meet. He was also aware of Hernandez’s national ranking in wheelchair tennis and his involvement with a Los Angeles wheelchair basketball team.

“(Hayes) asked me if I wanted to come help develop the program,� said Hernandez, a native of El Salvador who was disabled by polio as an infant. “I called Jesus Alamillo because I had played against him in L.A., and I didn’t really want to go to Texas by myself.

“I asked Coach Hayes if Jesus could have a scholarship, too, and he said yes.

“In less than a week, we went from having nothing to having something pretty spectacular. That changed our lives right then and

there.�

Hernandez, who led the nation in steals last season, is majoring in physics. Alamillo, 23, is a native of Mexico who was also disabled by polio as a youngster. He is studying mechanical engineering and is the nation’s top point guard.

Hernandez and Alamillo gave Texas Arlington a strong foundation to build on, setting the stage for the arrival of Van Beek, a center who is considered a top prospect for the 1996 U.S. Paralympic team.

Van Beek, 20, was 9 when he became temporarily paralyzed by Guillian-Barre syndrome, a rare condition that causes damage to the peripheral nervous system and can leave limbs permanently weakened. He was a patient at Casa Colina hospital in Pomona for five months and participated for 10 years in the facility’s wheelchair sports program.

At Casa Colina, Van Beek met Dave Kiley, a member of the gold medal basketball team at the 1992 Paralympics who is regarded as one of the best wheelchair athletes of all time.

“I don’t remember Jason crying or saying, ‘I don’t like this. This isn’t fair,’ � Kiley said. “He just dealt with his situation. He understood that you don’t get a lot of sympathy in a rehabilitation center because there is always someone there who is five or 10 times worse off than you.�

Van Beek, who graduated from Don Lugo High, developed into a top junior wheelchair tennis and basketball player. Hernandez had told him about the scholarship program at Texas Arlington, so when Hayes came calling, Van Beek signed on with the Movin’ Mavs.

“The scholarship gave me a way to move from a situation where people took care of me, to a place where I have to take care of myself,� said Van Beek, a communications major who averaged 34 points and 23 rebounds per game last season. “I’m getting a free education and getting to play basketball with guys who are my friends. It’s everything any athlete could ask for.�

Hernandez, Alamillo and Van Beek have earned lettermen’s jackets, and will receive their national championship rings at a ceremony next week. They consider themselves pioneers of sorts and hope their success will inspire youngsters--and their parents--to become involved in wheelchair sports.

“I think we’re all examples of what can happen when you give people opportunities,� Hernandez said. “But it’s like anything else in life; you have to go out there and practice.�