COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National Wheelchair Basketball Association recently announced that former Southwest Minnesota State University standout Josh Turek has been named to the 2012 USA Men's Wheelchair Basketball Paralympic Team that will compete at the Paralympics in London this August and September. 

The USA team was selected from four separate try-outs that were held in the summer of 2011.  More than 80 athletes attended the tryouts, before the 12-member team was selected this spring.

Team USA will be competing in several tournaments this summer, including Frankfurt, Germany, May 18-20, and in Manchester, England on May 23-26.  The team is also planning on traveling to Sydney, Australia, for another tournament from July 19-29.

Turek was a member of the 2004 Paralympic team that competed in Athens and won a gold medal at the 2011 Para Pan American Games.

Turek, a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, attended SMSU from 1997 to 2002 and left the wheelchair basketball program as the most prolific scorer in history.  The 2002 SMSU male 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, four-time All-American and three-year team captain.  He holds school single-season records in field goals made and points, along with holding single-game records for points scored, 3-point field goals made and free throws made.

As a senior in 2001-02, he led SMSU to a 27-10 record and was named MVP of the NWBA Region Tournament.

Turek has played professionally in Europe the past 10 years, including this season for a team in Madrid, Spain.