Bill Wampler, a junior forward on the Wright State University men’s basketball team, helped lead the USA Athletes In Action basketball team to a gold medal in the FISU America Games in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, on July 28, with a 78-69 win over Argentina.<\/p>\n
The International University Sports Federation is the governing body that supports the America Games, a 13-sport, collegiate-level tournament featuring 20 to 25 nations from North and South America.<\/p>\n
Athletes in Action, a Christian-based organization, was delegated by US-IUSF to select the squad to represent the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just awesome to see that the coaches had that much respect for me to suggest that I go on this trip,\u201d said Wampler.<\/p>\n
During the trip, the USA team partnered with Samaritian\u2019s Feet and distributed new shoes to people in need. The players and coaches also visited a juvenile detention center in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was something that was life-changing for me because I probably gave out 70 to 80 hugs to kids that probably don\u2019t get hugs very often,\u201d said Wampler.<\/p>\n
Wright State men\u2019s basketball coach Scott Nagy knew this experience would be impactful on his player. \u201cAnything that can be good for Bill and help him grow as a man is going to be good for our basketball team,\u201d said Nagy.<\/p>\n
Videos of the games are archived at facebook.com\/CBDU.brasil<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bill Wampler, a junior forward on the Wright State men’s basketball team, helped lead the USA Athletes In Action basketball team to a gold medal. Continue reading