Injured vets at Walter Reed recently received a visit from members of the Edinboro University wheelchair basketball team. At the start of the game, one team sets up the defense, from left, Bryan Wagner, Nate Knowles, Trevon Jenifer, Rany Hennigar and Andrew Hill look down court as their opponents take the ball out of bounds.
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Injured veterans play basketball at the Wagner Sports Center on the campus of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. During the conditioning part of this drill, they pull each other down the length of the court.
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Instructor Trevon Jenifer, center, gathers the troops at the start of the wheelchair basketball clinic at Walter Reed. Jenifer, a 2006 graduate of Huntingtown High School, will be competing in July at International Wheelchair Basketball Federation Junior World Championships in Paris.
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Ray Hennigar watches a demonstration on how to set a proper pick. He says he was inspired by Jenifer and Gray and is already thinking about going to college once he leaves Walter Reed. Hennigar is now considering one of the 10 schools that offers wheelchair basketball.
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Bryan Wagner, left, slugs Alex Knapp during a drill. As a rule for practice, if the chairs touched you got punched during the maneuver drill.
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Instructor Tommie Gray, left, battles Alex Knapp for a loose ball during action in the game. Knapp lost both of his legs to an IED in Iraq in March 2008.
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Andrew Hill throws the outlet pass from mid court after a steal.
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Luis Puertas gives instructor Trevon Jenifer a hand after he tumbled over going for a loose ball.
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Andrew Hill makes a pass around defender Alex Knapp during the game.
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Instructor Tommie Gray tumbles out of bounds after throwing a lay-up during the game against the soldiers. Gray, a rising senior at Edinboro University is from Warner Robins, Ga. He lost both limbs due to spinal meningitis when he was 4 years old.
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Luis Puertas falls to the court while attempting to steal the ball from Nate Knowles.
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Alex Knapp battles for a loose ball. Many of the men participating in the game say that no activity has provided better physical or emotional therapy than their time on the hardwood every Thursday.
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Bryan Wagner celebrates nailing a 15 foot shot.
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Ray Hennigar, left, and Nate Knowles congratulate each other for a game well played.
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Luis Puertas, left, and Ray Hennigar talk about the action following their first game at the wheelchair basketball clinic.
Jonathan Newton-The Washington Post
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