Cincinnati Dragons Wheelchair Basketball

The glory of youth wheelchair basketball was first brought to Greater Cincinnati in the Fall of 2014 and the Dragons have been straight ballin ever since! Our players get the opportunity to compete in the National Wheelchair Basketball Association’s Junior Division. During the season the Dragons travel throughout the midwest and beyond testing their skills against other junior wheelchair basketball teams. The Dragons field a fourteen and under team (also known affectionately as the ‘Preperonis’) in the NWBA’s Prep division and a highschool and under team in the NWBA’s Varsity division. Our players range from elementary to highschool ages and all experience some type of disability that prevents them from playing traditional basketball. While a relatively young organization the Dragons are on the rise, finishing in the top five in the nation the last two years and grinding to put themselves in a position to compete for a national title in the 2020-21 season.

The Greater Cincinnati Adapted Sports Club is a 501(c)3 organization powered 100% by volunteers. Our goal is to provide the Dragons with a top notch athletic experience that includes equipment that allow them to reach their potential and the ability to travel to tournaments in order to find the best competition the NWBA’s Junior Division has to offer. We’ll never let money become an obstacle for a player to participate and you can help!

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JACOB COUNTS FOUNDED THE GREATER CINCINNATI ADAPTED SPORTS CLUB IN THE FALL OF 2014 AND HAS PLAYED BASKETBALL SINCE 1999 ON FIVE DIFFERENT CONTINENTS.

Jacob started playing wheelchair basketball for a local team called the Cincinnati Slammers and quickly excelled at the sport on a regional level. He was then recruited to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he was part of three consecutive NWBA Collegiate Division Titles. From there Jacob had a four year stint with the US National team from 2007-2010 and competed in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. In 2008 Jacob began a professional career in the Italian League where he played for five years in the cities of Rome and Taranto.

"I remember becoming disabled at the age of 13 and there not being many opportunities for kids with disabilities to compete in sports and it felt like something much greater than the use of my legs has been taken from me. When I moved back to this area, the first things that occurred to me was that after all these years there was still no junior wheelchair basketball team in the area. For me there was no choice, if basketball had given me all these great opportunities, chances to improve myself through hard work, and allowed me to meet amazing friends and mentors from around the world, then I had to pay that forward and start my own junior team. It would have been impossible to do nothing when I know kids were going through the way thing I went through with a lack of competitive sports."

I’ve had a lot of luck in my life and this has continued with the players, volunteers and supporters involved with the Dragons. We’ve been able to recruit players who are awesome both on and off the court. I’ve also had a tremendous amount of coaching support from fellow paralympians. This started with Jake WIlliams during the 2014-15 season, then Ian Lynch from 2015 to 2020 and most recently the addition of Jaime Mazzi in 2020. The Dragons and myself have also been fortunate to have an army of volunteers behind us headed up by Mike Haake and MeMe Earnest; they’ve been instrumental in helping us “jocks” figure out all the things we need to take care of off the court!”

When Jacob retired from professional wheelchair basketball he moved back to his home city of Covington, KY and was looking for a new challenge off the court. This led Jacob to create the Greater Cincinnati Adapted Sports Club and their flagship program the Cincinnati Dragons, a youth wheelchair basketball team.

“ It was so hard it was to not have sports in my life after my accident until I found wheelchair basketball six years later. When I moved back to this area, I knew there were kids just like me, not playing sports, not sure of themselves, and who only saw themselves as someone with a disability much like I did. So for me there was no other choice but to start the Dragons. What I didn’t anticipate was how much fun and enjoyment I’d get out of coaching and seeing my players grow as athletes and more importantly as people. By far the thing I’m proudest of in my basketball career is the Dragons and seeing our players graduate and go off to college confident and well adjusted young people.”