Stephen Fisher was born with cerebral palsy, and has withstood four major surgeries -- one on his back and three on his hips.

The 2008 Pikesville High School graduate says his condition has stabilized, but he doesn't rule out future surgeries.

"It (the condition) doesn't allow certain muscles to get strong or fully developed," he said. "You are very spastic. My whole body would tense up at times."

The 18-year-old Fisher walks with the aid of crutches for shorter trips and uses a wheelchair when going long distances.

The wheelchair proved to be his entree into college sports with the defending college champion University of Illinois men's wheelchair basketball team.

Illinois coach Mike Frogley said he's happy to have Fisher as part of his championship program.

"Not only is he competitive, but he also wants to help others," Frogley added. "He wants to be a leader. He wants the responsibility of being a role model and showing others how to be successful."

Illinois starts its daunting practice schedule in mid-September with 6:30 a.m. workouts, some of then for three hours a day.

The team starts playing games in November against the nation's nine other collegiate wheelchair squads. The daunting schedule into March.

Fisher, known as a smart and extremely competitive player, will redshirt this season and only practice with the team, leaving him with four seasons of eligibility remaining after this year.

He chose Illinois over the University of Arizona because he was comfortable with the team's coaching staff after attending five summer camps at the school.

"He is very coachable," Frogley said. "He is always trying to find ways to make himself better, whether it's on the court or off the court. He has a lot of qualities that you find in people that are going to be successful."

Fisher long ago came to terms with his disability and has learned to make the best of it.

"If I didn't have a disability, I wouldn't be the same person. I wouldn't have the friends I have and I wouldn't be able to play wheelchair basketball," said Fisher, who expects to major in computer science.

He's also quite used to people underestimating him.

"There are certain stereotypes or stigmas," he said. "(People think) 'He is disabled. He can't do that.' I am always trying to prove that someone with a disability can do something. I learned through life that you find different ways to do the same thing as another person."

His participation in wheelchair basketball exemplifies that attitude. He's been playing for 13 years with the Bennett Blazers, a program of the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

The forward has competed in national tournaments in Texas, Washington, Alabama, Minnesota and Illinois on the high school-age Bennett team.

"We have been in the top four in basketball in the country for the past three or four years," Blazers coach Gerry Herman said. "I love Stephen's intelligence on the floor. He has the ability to perceive the whole game as it goes on."

Fisher also played sled ice hockey in national tournaments for the Bennett Blazers.

It was a sign of his dedication to basketball when he gave up swimming and track and field three years ago to sharpen his focus on his favorite sport.

Fisher, who carried a 3.85 grade point average, could never seem to get enough of sports at Pikesville High.

He managed the girls varsity volleyball as well as boys JV and varsity basketball teams.

He also kept stats for the boys varsity lacrosse team and ran the clock at home games for four Panther girls and boys basketball teams, according to Pikesville athletic director Ted Winner.

"I don't know how I am going to survive the winter basketball seasons without him," Winner said. "That's how good he was. He is the kind of kid a teacher stumbles into once every 20 years."

user comments (1)

user blazersbasketball says...

Thank you for highlighting Stephen Fisher in your article "Wheelchair Hoops Star set for Next Level" Stephen will be missed by the Bennett Blazers but we know he will make us, his family and Baltimore proud with his future accomplishments at the University of Illinois.

Posted 11:30 AM, 08.29.08

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