Courage on the court
Anyone who has even the slightest love of college basketball has been in overdrive as the season came down to a frenzied finish this past week.
Brackets were busted as upsets occurred, yet in the women’s final four every team was a #1 seed. South Carolina, UCLA, UConn and Texas. UCLA walked away with the National Championship in a dominate win over Carolina.
Two of the final four teams on the men’s side were seeded #1, including Michigan and Arizona. Michigan defeated UConn 69-63 for the national title on Monday evening, despite it being UConn’s third trip to the Final Four in the past four years.
In the meantime, Auburn won the NIT championship game in overtime on Sunday evening, after losing a 21 first half lead. If I have learned anything about basketball over the years, it is that the game is not over until it is over.
It was an interesting turn of events after the Tigers narrowly missed making the NCAA tournament. Auburn was still playing in the NIT after all the other SEC times were eliminated from the big dance. The NIT was not their tournament of choice but winning it all provided consolation to the team as they played some of their best ball of the season.
In one of the most underreported basketball stories of the year, Auburn won the wheelchair basketball national championship over archrival Alabama. The two teams played six times this year, splitting the wins three to three. Auburn broke the tie when they both wound up in the championship game and defeated the Crimson Tide 70-59.
Before you feel too sorry for the Tide’s loss, the women’s wheelchair team from Alabama won their sixth straight national championship, defeating the University of Texas at Arlington 55-37.
Mary Lou and I became staunch fans and supporters of wheelchair basketball soon after our move to Auburn. We attended a game and were instantly blown away by the athleticism of these young athletes. Their grit and determination were clear.
Wheelchair basketball is now part of Auburn Adapted Athletics which is a collaboration between Auburn University’s Office of Accessibility and the School of Kinesiology. Their mission, as stated on their website, is to offer equal athletic opportunities to student-athletes with disabilities while promoting health, wellness, and disability awareness. In addition to wheelchair basketball, these teams also include wheelchair tennis and power wheelchair soccer.
These athletes have their own rigorous training schedule with the competing demands of school and sports just like any other athlete on campus. Funded almost entirely by donations, they are an inspiration on so many levels.
We often think of these intense championship weekends as just a sport or competition. We intensely follow the athletes without knowing the background stories of most of them until they are famous or successful. They are multimillion dollar profit centers for many schools and certainly for television networks.
But just as the teams lift their trophies this week at the Big Dance and the NIT, there are others here in Alabama also lifting their national championship trophies as they sit in their wheelchairs.
Congratulations to the Alabama women on winning their sixth straight wheelchair basketball national championship. Congratulations to the Auburn men on winning the 2026 National Wheelchair Championship against Alabama. It is always sweet to win an Iron Bowl, no matter what sport.
Take a moment to check out wheelchair or adaptive sports in the college that you support. You will discover, as I did, true courage on the court.
o0o
Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]