COLORADO SPRINGS, Col. – The National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) announced Wednesday that former Southwest Minnesota State University wheelchair basketball champion Josh Turek has been named to the NWBA Hall of Fame.
The 2023 NWBA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 1, in the Grand Ballroom at the Holiday Inn, Wichita, Kan.
A native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Turek is notable for being one of the most decorated players to have competed at the intercollegiate, international and national levels. Turek attended SMSU from 1997 to 2002 and left the wheelchair basketball program as the most prolific scorer in team history. The 2002 SMSU Student-Athlete of the Year, Turek finished his career scoring 4,024 points and grabbing 1,213 rebounds. He was a four-time team MVP, a four-time All-American and a three-year team captain. He holds single-season school records in field goals made and points, as well as single-game records for points scored, 3-point field goals made, and free throws made.
Turek is a four-time Paralympian, having won a bronze medal in London in 2012 and helping to win back-to-back gold medals for the Rio 2016 Paralympics and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Turek had a successful professional career playing in Europe in several countries for 18 years, becoming one of the first Americans to lead the way to Europe. His achievements in European professional leagues include Copa Italia champion (2004), three-time Spanish league champion, three-time Copa del Rey champion (2010-2013), French Cup champion (2014) and EuroCup champion ( 2019). He won multiple MVPs and an All-Star 5 during this time in Europe.
Turek’s leadership, professionalism, and deep passion for disability advocacy led him to run for the Iowa House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections, where he became the first elected official to use a wheelchair to represent his district and people with disabilities at the political level.
Turek was inducted into the SMSU Athletics Hall of Honor in February of 2022.
