EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 5:40 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025 (doors open at 5:15 p.m.)

EVENT: The University of Michigan Wheelchair Basketball Team hosts its first home game of the season at the Crisler Center, taking on in-state rival Michigan State University.

The game will showcase the talent and dedication of U-M adaptive student-athletes, while challenging traditional perceptions of what it means—and who gets—to be a collegiate student-athlete. The event marks a milestone for U-M Adaptive Sports & Fitness, which has grown rapidly to meet the needs that exist within U-M and the larger adaptive sports community.

The U-M Wheelchair Basketball Team is coached by Jessica Wynne, a former member of the Michigan Women’s Basketball team. Players include Feranmi Okanlami, a clinical faculty member at the U-M Medical School and founding director of U-M Adaptive Sports & Fitness, which is a department within the university’s Student Accessibility and Accommodation Services; and Erik Robeznieks, associate director of Adaptive Sports & Fitness, who previously worked with Wheelchair Basketball Canada, serving on staff with Team Canada during the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

Student-athletes on the U-M team include: Peyton Manigo, a first-year student from Joliet, Illinois, enrolled in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts; Drew Dame, a sophomore from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who is pursuing a degree in computer science; and Jerome Montgomery, a Detroit native and a master’s student in the School of Social Work, with a concentration in the welfare of children and families.

In addition to the game, the U-M Band and A2 STEAM Middle School Band will deliver musical performances. Halftime programming will include a mini-wheelchair basketball game featuring U-M and MSU ROTC members, and a half-court shot competition.

Admission is free. Paid VIP packages are also available.