Steve Serio

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]

Steve Serio
Serio in 2011
Personal information
Full nameSteven Serio
Nickname(s)Steve
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

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. "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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