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Former Movin’ Mav alum leads USA to gold

Written by Travis Detherage, The Shorthorn staff

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 07:02 PM

Jay Nelms, former Movin’ Mav captain and 2006 graduate, was named MVP of the America’s Cup Qualifying tournament Aug. 29 in Vancouver, Canada.

Nelms led the USA team to a gold medal for the tournament and helped the USA team qualify for 2010 World Championships in Birmingham, England. Nelms said this tournament win was a building block for next year’s World Championship.

“It was kind of easy winning the tournament after all the time you spend playing basketball,” Nelms said. “It’s cool because after we won we got to stand at the podium and they played the American national anthem.”

Nelms said he was honored to win a gold medal for his country.

“It’s shocking, I’ve been a role-player for most of my career,” he said. “It’s a really big honor to win the gold medal after I’ve been on that team for a long time.”

The USA team won 79-69 in the tournament final against Canada, after falling behind 10 points. The USA team won all five of its games in the tournament. Nelms led a USA starting lineup that featured three other UTA alumni — Mikey Paye, Jay Schulte and Paul Schulte.

“It’s great, because we played at the same college. It’s fun to have UTA players on the American squad,” Nelms said.

After graduation, Nelms occasionally drops by in some of the UTA wheelchair basketball practices to share his basketball knowledge.

“I share knowledge about the game and give them pointers up and down the floor. I love playing with the team and beating them,” Nelms jokingly said.

Doug Garner, Movin’ Mavs wheelchair basketball head coach, said Nelms is a good teacher.

“It’s like the world of wheelchair basketball that he brings to these guys,” Garner said. “They respect him, he’s very patient and he kind of evaluates their games to play at his level.”

Senior James Patin, Movin’ Mavs team captain, said Nelms brings a different perspective.

“He brings experience, he has good knowledge of the game of basketball,” Patin said.

After Nelms graduated from UTA, he was a part of the first draft of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) and was selected by the Denver Nuggets. The NWBA, founded in 1948, comprises more than 200 basketball teams across 22 conferences and seven divisions.

“They [NWBA] give you the opportunity to get to the path for NWBA by making people go through college. It goes all the way down to high school, and it makes them start at a young age,” he said.

Nelms also played for the USA team in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China, were the team finished in fourth place.

“The commitment is four years, so I had four years of dedication. We were doing good up until the semifinals,” he said. “Hopefully next time we can get the gold medal.”

Nelms said he wants to be keep playing until he’s 40. He encouraged wheelchair basketball players to strive for the best.

“Spend time at the basketball court,” he said. “Commit yourself in the gym. And to be the best, you have to play against the best.”

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Last Updated ( Thursday, 28 January 2010 01:43 PM )

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