Men's Wheelchair Basketball Schedule Highlights
The University of Alabama men's wheelchair basketball team will play 24 games over the course of the 2023-2024 season (with 16 of those games being National Wheelchair Basketball Association Intercollegiate Division games.
Its complete schedule can be found here.
All games are livestreamed on the Alabama Adapted Athletics website.
Here are some of the schedule highlights:
Tide Tipoff Presented by RGK on Oct. 13 at Stran-Hardin Arena (University of Alabama)
This is an exhibition, not a game. Also, it features both
the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball teams.
While it does consist of parts of game-simulated
scrimmages, it is mostly made up of other events (think the NBA or WNBA All-Star
Skill Contests the night before the All-Star Game).
But it is the first opportunity for the community to see the teams in action and the first opportunity for the players to take the court in front of fans, so the excitement from that alone should liven up Stran-Hardin Arena.
Vs. ABC Medical Legends on Oct 27 (Part of the ABC Medical Classic) at
This is the first game of the season, which creates an
air of excitement in and of itself.
The Legends accounted for one of Alabama’s three losses last
season.
The biggest reason that I find this game a highlight
is the many connections between the Alabama Adapted Athletics program and the
Legends (who are based out of Birmingham).
Among the players on the Legends’ roster (at least as of
last season; the team does not yet have a roster posted for this season are:
-Michael Auprince, who played for the Alabama men’s wheelchair
basketball team from 2015-2019 and currently serves as the team’s assistant
coach having started that position last season (no; I’m not sure how that works
logistically for this game)
-Lindy Bridges, who played on the Alabama men’s wheelchair
basketball team from 2016-2022
-Sean Burns, who played on the Alabama men’s wheelchair
basketball team from 2012-2017 and served as the team’s assistant coach from
2019-2022
Alabama also plays the ABC Medical Legends on Nov. 11 and Feb. 23 (both at Stran-Hardin Arena).
Vs. University of Illinois on Dec. 15 (part of the Auburn University Tournament presented by Hollister) at Auburn University
This is the team’s first National Wheelchair basketball Intercollegiate
Division game of the season.
One of Alabama’s three losses – and one of its two losses
in the NWBA Intercollegiate Division -- last season came at the hands of
Illinois (though Alabama did beat Illinois in the two team’s second and third
matchups of the regular season as well as in the national championship
tournament semifinals.
Alabama’s loss to Illinois came by five points, and its
victory over Illinois in the semifinals came by seven points, so I expect this
to be a close hotly-contested game.
Although it is an away game (held at a tournament hosted
by Auburn University), all games are livestreamed on the Alabama Adapted Athletics website.
Vs. Auburn on Jan. 19 (
This is the first home NWBA intercollegiate Division game
for the Crimson Tide, and it’s Auburn.
Even though Alabama beat Auburn in all four of the team’s
matchups last season – by margins of 11 points, eight points, 19 points, and 24
points – any game of the Alabama-Auburn rivalry is fun and exciting.
Alabama also plays Auburn at Auburn on Dec. 16 and Feb. 2 and at Stran-Hardin Arena on March 2.
Vs. University of Arizona on Jan. 19 (part of the UA Early College Classic) at
The Alabama men’s wheelchair basketball team finished last season second in the NWBA Intercollegiate Division standings with a division record of
14-1.
The only team that finished ahead of them in the
standings was the University of Arizona with a division record of 16-0.
Arizona accounted for Alabama’s other division loss (besides the loss to Illinois) last
season, a 64-60 defeat.
Though Alabama beat Arizona 73-68 in the national championship
game.
Yes; this is a new season, but I still expect this to be a close exciting game.
Alabama also plays Arizona on Dec. 16 (at Auburn) and Jan. 12 (at the University of Texas at Arlington).
National Championship Tournament on March 13-16 at Southwestern Minnesota State University
Alabama's schedule and opponent for the National Championship Tournament will depend on seeding based on the regular season results from the NWBA Intercollegiate Division.
*As I stated in my introductory blog post, although I am
a student at the University of Alabama, I am not part of the Alabama Adapted
Athletics program. So these are my views, and those views do not claim to speak
for or represent the Alabama Adapted Athletics program.
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