During the school year, Blair is a junior majoring in management with a specialization in global business at The University of Alabama. After winning the national championship his freshman year playing for the men’s wheelchair basketball team, Blair went back home to Australia for the summer to get back to work with his team, the Aussie Rollers.
Blair’s work finally paid off. Last week in a close game for the World Championships in Incheon, South Korea, Australia defeated the USA 63-57, making the Rollers back-to-back world champions, defending their gold medal and being the only team to do so since the USA in 2002.
“Our preparation was very similar leading into worlds to that of London,” Blair said. “However, I think the memory of losing the final in London provided that extra motivation to get the job done.”
Returning to campus with two gold medals added to his resume, Blair finds it a bit strange going from playing basketball all over the world to playing basketball in Alabama.
“Yeah it’s definitely a bit of a change of pace coming back to Alabama after winning worlds, but I love the competitive nature of the college division,” Blair said. “Winning another ring is my primary focus for the next nine months.”
Due to his travel with the Aussie Rollers during the school year, Blair will have to stay an extra semester in college, which he said can be hard at times. In November, Blair will travel with the Aussie Rollers to Japan. In the meantime, he can expect two of his Rollers teammates to join him at UA in the fall.
Jordan Bartley and Ryan Morich, who played with Blair for the first world championship title, are hoping to bring some of the same intensity Blair has brought to the team. However, just like Blair, they have suffered setbacks in their education and hope to finish their degrees at the University.
“Mainly I wanted to go to UA because I want to study and finish a degree, while being able to play full-time basketball. Alabama will provide more game time experience with the college season having more games than Australia’s national league,” Morich said. “I’m hoping to bring some of the Aussie intensity that Jannik already has on court, and the intensity required to be in the world number one team.”
With Coach Miles Thompson’s recent departure from the team, there is a worry that the Crimson Tide may not be the national champion-caliber team they used to be, but Sean Burns, a junior majoring in business, does not believe that. After playing with the team his freshman year and winning a national title, Burns took a year off from the team to focus on his school work. This year he will be rejoining the team in the hunt for a second national championship.
“The team will definitely be different, but I think Ford will bring the same philosophy and we’ll be fine. He’s hungry to win and so are the players,” Burns said. “I think international players have more experience because they usually are the some of the top players in their countries. Hopefully they will bring more experience and come in and work hard to get back to the championship game.”
