Paul Schulte (basketball)
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Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
United States Schulte in 2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 14 – Wounded Warriors Abilities Ranch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Guard | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | National Wheelchair Basketball Association | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | March 5, 1979 Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft (183 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| High school | Manchester High School (Manchester, Michigan) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College | University of Texas at Arlington | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Paul Schulte (born 1979) is an American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player.
Schulte grew up in Manchester, Michigan with a love of sports. In 1989, he was in a car accident at the age of 10 in which he was paralyzed from the waist down. At 14, he was introduced to the Paralympic sport of wheelchair basketball. Throughout high school, Paul played for the varsity division Grand Rapids Junior Pacers. The Pacers won two varsity division national championships during this time, with Schulte named as the National Most Valuable Player in his senior year.
In 1997, he accepted a full ride athletic scholarship to the University of Texas at Arlington. At 18 years old, during his freshman season at UT Arlington, Schulte was invited to try out for the U.S. men's Paralympic wheelchair basketball team. He won a position on the team and his basketball career began to skyrocket. Schulte went on to become a four-time Paralympian competing at the Games in Sydney, Beijing, London, and Paris. Additionally he won two world championship titles and in 2002 was awarded tournament MVP at the world championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.
During his senior year of college, Schulte's team won the Intercollegiate Championship where he received Most Valuable Player, Academic All-American, and Sportsmanship honors. UT-Arlington later retired his jersey number 20 in his honor.
He went on to become a five-time national champion with the National Wheelchair Basketball Association and was named MVP for the championship division three times. Along the way, Schulte has been nominated for both the Laureus and ESPY awards as Best Male Athlete of the Year with a Disability.
Schulte was invited to the White House on numerous occasions Presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Schulte retired from the national team from 2015 to 2023 and served as a broadcast commentator for NBC Sports during the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Eight years after retirement, Schulte returned to competitive wheelchair basketball where he made his fourth Paralympic Team for the Paris 2024 Games where the team would go on to win their third consecutive gold.
Schulte graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and currently serves as president for adaptive sport equipment manufacturer Top End Sports LLC (Pinellas Park, FL). Schulte and his high school sweetheart Meghan Greenwald were married in 2000 and their son Brady was born in 2010.