Background
He grew up in Westbury, New York and graduated from Carle Place High School in 2005.
He grew up in Westbury, New York and graduated from Carle Place High School in 2005.
University of Illinois system.
When Steve was 11 months old, he had surgery to remove a spinal tumor which resulted in the compression of his spinal cord. Consequently, he was left paralyzed and is classified as an incomplete paraplegic. Steve began his wheelchair basketball career as a sophomore in high school with the Long Island Lightning, the only competitive junior wheelchair basketball team in New York State.
He was a tremendous asset to this team, eventually leading them to the team"s first National Championship in 2005 where was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. In that same year, he played on a United States of America U-23 Team played at the Australian Junior National Games for the Disabled in Sydney.
He played point guard for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Steve was named a 2nd Team All-American in both the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 seasons at Illinois.
At the National Tournament at Oklahoma State University on March 15, 2008, Steve led the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to a NIWBA Championship over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Steve also plays on the United States. Paralympics Men"s Wheelchair Basketball Team, which came in second place at the World Championships in Amsterdam in the summer of 2006.
Steve made his Paralympic debut with the United States. National Team in 2008 in Beijing, China.
The team finished in fourth place, just missing a medal. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in May 2010, where he studied Kinesiology. He is currently living in Germany and playing for Respiratory Syncytial Virus Lahn-Dill.
His contract was recently extended through the 2016 season.
Juniors 2005: First place - Junior National Wheelchair Basketball Championships Intercollegiate United States National Team Professional.
2005: First place - Junior National Wheelchair Basketball Championships 2005: Tournament Most Valuable Player - Junior National Wheelchair Basketball Championships 2005: Gold medal - World Junior Basketball Championships 2010: National Champion - United States. Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball 2010: Most Valuable Player - NWBA College Division 2008: National Champion - United States. Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball 2008: Most Valuable Player - NWBA College Division 2012: Bronze Medal - Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom 2010: Third place - Wheelchair Basketball World Championship, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom 2009: First place - America"s Cup, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada 2008: Fourth place - Paralympic Games, Beijing, China 2008: First place - North American Cup, Birmingham, Alabama 2007: Gold medal - Parapan American Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2006: Silver medal - IWBF Gold Cup (World Championships), Amsterdam, The Netherlands 2011: German DRS Cup Champion 2011: German Championship 2011: IWBF Champions League Silver Medal 2012: German DRS Cup Champion 2012: German Championship.
