The Journey of Two-Time Paralympic Gold Medalist Jake Williams

Jake Williams considered himself merely a good wheelchair basketball player after three years in college. It was a transfer back to his home state of Wisconsin that propelled Williams to become one of the best in the nation and a two-time Paralympic gold medalist.

Williams, 31, is one of the leaders of the national team, one that will bid next year to become the first to win three consecutive Paralympic men’s wheelchair basketball titles.

He is also now the head coach at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Whitewater has one-quarter of the enrollment of the University of Wisconsin in Madison, but it is a wheelchair basketball powerhouse with 12 men’s national titles since 1996 as well as a women’s three-peat from 2012-14.

Twenty-six Whitewater men’s and women’s players have represented the U.S. at the Paralympics, plus 17 more for other nations, according to the UW-Whitewater student newspaper.

“It’s kind of like a wheelchair basketball factory,” Williams said. “What makes Whitewater special is a lot of the alumni are still around the area and will still come scrimmage with us every day during the summer and during the school year. So the college players really get the experience of playing against former and current Paralympians. ... It gave me the confidence. Whitewater can give everyone the tools to do whatever they want in wheelchair basketball. It’s up to you whether you use them. I took full advantage of it.”

Williams, a Greater Milwaukee native, swam the sprint freestyles as a teen. His basketball experience was limited to pick-up games with friends.

On June 14, 2008, Williams, then a rising high school senior, was hit by a car while riding his bike en route to where he worked as a lifeguard. His spinal cord was severed.

Williams’ wheelchair basketball career generated while he was in the hospital.

His dad worked at the Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport with the father of Chris Okon, who was then playing for UW-Whitewater (and later played for the national team). Okon visited Williams, passed along a local coach’s contact information, and Williams took up the sport a few months after the accident.

“Skill-wise, stuff came a lot easier to me than a lot of other people,” Williams said. “I wasn’t athletic, but I always had really quick reflexes. That helps a lot in wheelchair basketball.”