| Getting to Know: John McPhail |
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| Written by Travis Detherage, The Shorthorn staff | ||||
| Thursday, 10 September 2009 08:43 PM | ||||
  Social work freshman John McPhail knew about the university wheelchair basketball program beforehand and came to join the Movin’ Mavs after repeat emails with head coach Doug Garner in December. The Australian native said Garner was the only coach from a few schools that was genuinely interested in him. (The Shorthorn: Rasy Ran) The Shorthorn: When did you come to America? McPhail: I first came in January to check out the campus, and then I came back to school about three weeks ago. Why did you come to UTA? Mostly because of the good basketball program they have. When I came over in January the campus was amazing. I really enjoyed what I saw, and liked what I saw, so I thought it would be the best place to further my education and further my basketball. Why did you get into basketball? Mostly just because the other sports that I was doing in Australia wasn’t really a challenge anymore, and I wanted a bigger challenge. Wheelchair basketball seemed like the best fit for me. How were you recruited? I actually just e-mailed [head coach] Doug one night after I e-mailed a few other colleges. I got a response back from him in half an hour and started talking to him regularly for the next three months from past December. He told me he wanted me to come over and be a student athlete at UTA, and UTA seemed like the best fit for me, so here I am. And you did all that in Australia? Yeah, e-mailed him and started talking to him from there. Do you hope to play one day in the Paralympics for your country? I’d love to. I’m in the Australian men’s team train-on squad and I’m hoping to be in the World Championships squad that will be going to Birmingham, England, next year. And then if all goes well and my basketball keeps getting better and better, I’ll be there in 2012 in London, so that’s the plan. How do you think you’ll achieve that? A lot of hard work. It started two years ago when I got training for the train-on squad on the Australian team and its going to continue everyday. Hopefully through 2012 I’ll be good enough for the coach to pick me. What’s it like to play for the wheelchair basketball team? It’s really, really, really good. It’s different in what I have in Australia. The program we have in Australia is probably the best in the world, but for people who are my age like 19, 20 you don’t get free hour-training with 14 other guys everyday. In Australia you get maybe twice, three times a week. It’s not as consistent in Australia as it is here. What’s your goal in life? I’d love to go and play basketball in Europe, anywhere in Europe. You get paid over there so you play as a professional. Definitely love to go play in the Paralympics, but I really, really want to continue a career in social work. Views: 1438 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 January 2010 01:43 PM ) | ||||
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