Nick Taylor (basketball)

Nick Taylor
2012 Australian Paralympic Team portrait of Taylor
Personal information
Nationality  Australia
Born (1980-01-18) 18 January 1980
Sport
Country Australia
Sport Wheelchair basketball
Event(s) Men's team
College team University of Texas
Team Wollongong Roller Hawks
Turned pro 2005
Medal record
Wheelchair basketball
Paralympic Games
2012 London Men's wheelchair basketball
World Championship
2014 Incheon Team

Nick Taylor (born 18 January 1980) is a wheelchair basketball player. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics playing for the South Africa men's national wheelchair basketball team. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in wheelchair basketball, being part of the men's team that won silver.[1]

Personal

Taylor was born on 18 January 1980 in South Africa.[2][3][4] He became a paraplegic as a result of a car accident in South Africa when he was eighteen years old the day before he was supposed to play in a basketball tournament.[2] He attended university in Cape Town and at the University of Texas.[2] In 2005, he moved to Illawarra, New South Wales,[2] participating in a surfing tryout that year.[4] In 2012, he lived in Towradgi, New South Wales.[2]

Basketball

Growing up, Taylor played basketball in South Africa, playing for the South Africa junior national basketball team.[2] He also played for the Natal representative side and was scheduled to play in the 1998 U19 South African National Championships but was involved in a serious car accident the day before the competition.[2]

Wheelchair basketball

Taylor at a game in Sydney
Taylor at the 2012 London Paralympics
Taylor at the 2012 London Paralympics

Taylor is a wheelchair basketball player,[2] playing in the shooting guard position.[5][6] He started playing wheelchair basketball in 2002.[2] He earned the 2010 Frank Ponta Trophy.[2]

Taylor played wheelchair basketball for the University of Texas in 2002 with future Australian national team teammate Brad Ness.[7]

Taylor played for the Wollongong Roller Hawks in 2005.[7] In 2012, he was still with the Roller Hawks, which won the National Wheelchair Basketball League in 2012.[5][8][9] In his team's 75-59 semi-final win over the Wentley Wheelcats, he scored fourteen points.[10] In the Grand Final, he scored fourteen points in a game that was played before a crowd of 500.[6][9][11]

Taylor played for the South African men's national wheelchair basketball team at the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[2]

Taylor first made the Australian national team in 2009, making his debut at the Rollers & Gliders World Challenge.[2] He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in wheelchair basketball.[2][3][8] The Games were his first.[3] Going into the London Paralympics, his team was ranked number one in the world.[11] He had to earn his spot as fourteen men had been vying for spots on the team.[12]

At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he was part of the Australian men's wheelchair team that won silver.[1] He was a member of the Rollers team that won the gold medal at the 2014 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships .[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Men's Wheelchair Basketball Results". London 2012 Paralympic Games. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Nick Taylor". Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Games wheelchair basketball squads named". news.com.au. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  4. 1 2 "All hands on deck for surfing day". Fairfax. 08/04/2005. Retrieved 2012-07-27. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. 1 2 Bree Fuller (2012-07-02). "Champion Roller Hawks under threat — Local News — News — General". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  6. 1 2 "Financial Review — News Store". Fairfax. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  7. 1 2 "Financial Review — News Store". Fairfax. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  8. 1 2 Mike Gandon (2012-07-05). "Stibners, Taylor selected for Paralympics — Local News — Sport — Basketball". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  9. 1 2 Tim Keeble (2012-06-18). "Roller Hawks trounce Perth Wheelcats — Local News — Sport — Basketball". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  10. ↑ "Financial Review — News Store". Fairfax. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  11. 1 2 "Financial Review — News Store". Fairfax. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  12. ↑ "Roll on, London Games". Illawarra Mercury. Fairfax. 2012-06-16. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
  13. ↑ "Rollers are back to back World Champions". Australian Paralympic Committee News, 14 July 2014. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
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