In 2008, the men’s wheelchair basketball team at the University of Illinois set out to achieve their sport’s pinnacle: a college national championship. That lofty goal represented another stage of a journey begun in 1948 when Tim Nugent established them as the first collegiate wheelchair basketball team in the country.

Josh Birnbaum, photographer and lecturer at the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University, documented the lives of the players and coaches who made this dream a reality. Birnbaum’s recently released book, Dream Shot, memorializes a legendary team alongside its contribution to the progress of disability rights.

“Birnbaum’s respectful and big-hearted honest photographs show us that on the court, and especially off of the court during their everyday lives, this is a team and a community of champions.”–David Guttenfelder, National Geographic photographer 

“This book is a fantastic testament to the power, struggle, and triumph of wheelchair basketball and the program, coaches, and players at the University of Illinois. Dr. Nugent’s dream is alive and well and is personified by the team of individuals captured in Dream Shot: The Journey to a Wheelchair Basketball National Championship.”–Jim Scherr, Executive Director, National Wheelchair Basketball Association