Wheelchair basketball captain leads team to championship win

As the final buzzer rang out at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois, Ben Thornton felt a weight lift from his shoulders. The noise, echoing deafeningly throughout the arena, might make one cover their ears. But Thornton raised his arms. To him, it meant only one thing – victory.

After two consecutive losses in the College Wheelchair Basketball National Championship, the University of Arizona men’s players felt they had a lot to prove in their third appearance. And none more than Thornton, a graduate engineering management student and the team’s captain. Turns out, the third time’s the charm.

“This year alone has been the culmination of those past three years. All of the rebuilding, all of the hard work that went into it was just piled up onto this year’s championship game,” Thornton said. “We knew we had to come out and take care of business, which is what we did.”

For Thornton, this moment was especially sweet. It was the pinnacle of everything he had overcome – balancing demanding coursework with over 25 hours of weekly practice, navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic during his freshman year, and finding meaningful connections with others.

Image

“But I was able to do it, and that final buzzer going off in the championship game really set it in stone,” he said. “It was a testament to all our hard work as a team to make things happen.”

An arduous journey

Thornton has been playing wheelchair basketball since he was 11. At age 3, he was partially paralyzed after a blood clot traveled to his spine post-heart transplant. A few years later, a physical therapist told him about adaptive athletics, and the doors of opportunity opened.

“At 6, I was old enough to do it, but I was kind of timid and shy back then. I didn’t really know if that was something I wanted,” Thornton said. “But in fifth or sixth grade, I really fell in love with sports during recess. And coming from an athletic background, sports was in my blood, so pursuing that was a really special moment for me.”

After high school, Thornton went to the U of A for the next step in his career. He chose an athletic scholarship opportunity at Arizona over the University of Missouri and Auburn University due to its resources for adaptive athletes and “amazing” business school, where he would eventually earn his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration for business management.

The COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on his freshman year in 2020, as the closure of the Campus Recreation Center meant the team had to practice outside in the heat. Outside of practice, he spent most of his time at home, doing online classes. But the circumstances brought him and his teammates closer together.

“At the time, I was living with a couple of my teammates, so that made it better to have people there for me,” Thornton said. “Being away from my family was hard, but I was able to push through, and in my sophomore year, it was a cool experience to finally be a part of a collegiate team.”

Thornton said his bond with his teammates is family-like. He and his “brothers” have navigated the adversity of their respective disabilities – allowing them to lean on each other due to their shared experience.

“It’s very special – it goes beyond basketball,” he said.

Despite the challenges, Thornton doesn’t want any special treatment. Wheelchair basketball helped him realize his potential– whether that’s making friends or achieving his athletic and academic goals.

“I think wheelchair basketball gave me self-esteem and confidence,” he said. “Just because I’m in a wheelchair doesn’t mean that I need to throw my life away – I need to earn everything that I want in life. I don’t need to be given handouts.”

Looking forward

Off the heels of this year’s national championship victory, Thornton is hoping for a “storybook ending” as he finishes out his final year of athletic eligibility. The stars have aligned for such a conclusion, as the College Wheelchair Basketball National Championship will be held in Tucson’s McKale Memorial Center in 2026.

Around the same time, Thornton will complete his master’s degree in engineering management. He hopes to secure a job as a project manager in the construction industry post-graduation. With such a climactic resolution on the horizon, Thornton said he wants nothing more than to defend his team’s title on home turf for one last hurrah.

“It’s your job to decide whether you want to sit at home or you want to go and chase your dreams,” Thonton said. “So that’s why I’m here at the University of Arizona: to chase my dreams.”

“And now, I’m a collegiate athlete. I’m a national champion,” he added. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”