Charlotte (Steve Goldberg's Wheel World) - I write often in this space about the big names in wheelchair basketball, those men and women competing for Paralympic gold and World Championships, the athletes playing professionally in Europe or collegiately in the U.S.

But where do they come from? Some come late to the game as teens or adults after an accident or illness has affected their mobility. Many though start much younger, most of whom you will never hear about. Some you might and you may get an inkling of that the way I did when I first saw future Paralympians Paul Schulte and Christina Ripp (now Schwab) at the NWBA’s national junior tournament about 15 years ago.

Other future Paralympians, World Champs, professionals and collegians may be pushing up and down the courts in Louisville, Kentucky this weekend at the 67th NWBA National Championships which began on Thursday. There will be 93 teams in five divisions, over a thousand athletes competing. The junior champions for the Varsity, Prep, and NIT divisions will be decided on Saturday. There is also a dedicated competition for military veterans.

By Sunday, champions will be crowned for the two adult (Championship and DIII) levels.

One of the most surprising stories in this NBA season has been the performance of the many times good but never great Atlanta Hawks. Going into the season on the heel of embarrassing comments and admissions by the general manager and an owner, there was no reason to expect that the team on court wouldn't be almost as disappointing.

That said, they rebounded from potential disaster to win a record 60 games and take the top seed into the Eastern Conference playoffs. They are a realistic choice to make the NBA Finals, a place they've never been since moving to Atlanta in 1968. As the St Louis Hawks, the team had great success from 1957-61 making the finals in four of five seasons, winning it all over the Boston Celtics in 1958. Since relocating to Atlanta in 1968 though, the team has never gotten past the Conference Semi-Finals.

Perhaps they can take a lesson from the BlazeSports Atlanta Junior Wheelchair Hawks, who go into the NWBA National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky this weekend looking for a fourth straight national Prep Division title.

The NBA side has certainly taken to the team basketball concept that has proven successful for the junior wheelchair squad. And as the play of point guard Jeff Teague has been vital to the big team, Collin Lancaster has been guiding the fortunes of the prep team for three years now.

"He's a quarterback on the floor," said assistant coach Jeff Jones, engaging a common American football reference that infers leadership and smart decision making. "He runs the show."

Just 10 years old, Lancaster has already been "the man" for three national titles. Also a swimmer and track racer, Jones calls him a real athlete.

Another stalwart has been Eric Francis, 11, a power forward who was the leading scorer for the Hawks and last year's tournament MVP. The team has also gotten taller this year with the addition of Baily Moody, now 13. She towers over most prep players. An amputee who still plays stand-up ball, she is still working on her chair skills and must already be drawing attention from college coaches.

Jones is quick to tell me that they are fortunate to have 14 kids on the prep roster and that the coaches look to play them all, not just out of fairness inasmuch as that depth can help wear their opponents down.

"Our development system has been really good on basic wheelchair basketball skills," he said.

Along with chair mobility and shooting drills, Jones explained that they pay a particular emphasis on layups, which take on some different geometry and physics when playing from a moving chair.

The Hawks like to play a high pressure defense that engages their opponents just as they cross mid-court. Lancaster is usually the first man to engage and turnovers lead to numerous fast breaks and, in turn, layups. Given their size and rebounding ability, the Hawks are also quick to release and send long passes down the court.

"90 percent of our points are layups and putting people into the right spot on the floor," he went on.

That sounds a lot like what their NBA counterparts have been doing this season.

In the three years since their first championship, the Jr. Hawks prep team has only lost one game. That was early in last year's tournament, against the Chicago Skyhawks, the team they came back to beat in the final.

So before the NBA Hawks get their first championship, the BlazeSports Atlanta Junior Wheelchair Hawks may have already collected their fourth. That's why you may want to remember those names.

You may be hearing them again on an even bigger stage in years to come.

Steve Goldberg 

FIBA

FIBA's columnists write on a wide range of topics relating to basketball that are of interest to them. The opinions they express are their own and in no way reflect those of FIBA.

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