Illinois wheelchair basketball players practice for a tournament game as head coach Mike Frogley watches at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., on Friday, March 14, 2008.

After playing two games in a row at a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater tournament on March 18, 2006, Denny Muha's hands show calluses, peeling skin, and caked-on dirt. His hands get so dirty from pushing his wheelchair so much. "Some courts are dirtier than others," Muha remarked.

To ward off boredom on the bus, from left, Aaron Pike, Lars Spenger, Brian Bell, and Matt Buchi play Family Feud on a laptop during the trip to their national tournament on Wednesday, March 12, 2008.

Since he could not jump into the pool on his own accord due to paralysis below the waist, player Joey Gugliotta gets ready to dive from a table as Brian Bell helps weigh him down at the team's hotel in Columbia, Mo., on Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. "I've never jumped into a pool before," Gugliotta said.

Peter Yoomin, left, and Joey Nye push their chairs up the ramps of Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., in the early morning hours on Sept. 21, 2006. Every Thursday in September is ramp practice for the wheelchair basketball team, so players push forward up the ramps for 15 minutes, push backwards up the ramps for another 15 minutes, and then push and stop for the last 15 minutes.

Steve Serio fixes his hair while sitting atop a counter in his hotel room after a wheelchair basketball tournament in Whitewater, Wisc., on March 18, 2006.

Josh George, left, and Lars Spenger watch video of a previous basketball game at their hotel during a tournament trip in Erie, Pa., on Friday, March 23, 2007.

Players roll to their cars in Champaign, Ill., after returning late from a University of Missouri tournament on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008.

Steve Serio rests on the ground after the wheelchair basketball team did ramps practice at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., on Sept. 28, 2006.

Lars Spenger attempts to shoot over Wisconsin-Whitewater defenders during the national championship game on Saturday, March 15, 2008.

From left, Joey Gugliotta, Matt Buchi, Tom Smurr, and Lars Spenger celebrate after Illinois defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater, 63-58, to win the national championship in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, March 15, 2008.

Drew Dokos celebrates after Illinois defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater, 63-58, to win the national championship in Stillwater, Okla., on Saturday, March 15, 2008. The championship title was the first for the Illini men since 2001.