Trevon Jenifer has already won the medals—two Paralympic golds, one bronze, and some world championship hardware—as a member of the US Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team. As he prepares to compete for a third Paralympic gold in Paris—and he wants it, bad—Jenifer is already looking beyond the podium, setting his eyes on prizes that transcend parasports.
“A lot of times, people see us playing sports on the world stage and think it ends there,” Jenifer told Amplitude last month. “The biggest thing we can do is change perspectives and change lives for other individuals.” One of Jenifer’s primary vehicles for creating change is his partnership with Citi, a major Paralympic sponsor whose #StareAtGreatness campaign won multiple advertising and media awards. He’s also a vocal ambassador for disability employment (Jenifer works full-time for the US Secret Service as a security specialist) and maintains a busy public-speaking schedule.
“When my [basketball] career is over,” he says, “I want people to look back on my legacy not just as an athlete, but as an advocate to make change for individuals with disabilities.” Team USA begins its gold medal defense on August 29. You can follow Jenifer on Instagram at @treyjenifer or get a copy of his autobiography, From the Ground Up, via Thrift Books. Our conversation is edited for length and readability.
I know you’ve been playing wheelchair basketball since you were a kid. How did you get introduced to the game? At what point did you really fall in love with the game and start to take it seriously?
What’s crazy about my journey is that I actually didn’t like wheelchair basketball in the beginning. I basically used it as a cross trainer for track, because I was a track star—short sprints all the way from 60 meters up to the 800. But the 400 was my preference. I grew up in Washington, DC, and my dad—who is my stepfather, but I call him my dad because he’s been in my life since the age of four—he was the one who pushed me into the sports world. Track was number one for me, and I did that for eight years. Then my parents and the coaching staff had a falling out, so I stopped doing adaptive sports at the age of 12. But I still had that competitive fire in me, and I ended up wrestling in high school against able-bodied personnel. I finished third in the state of Maryland.
My coach had gone to Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, and he called their wrestling coach and found out they didn’t have a 103-pound weight class—but they did have a wheelchair basketball team. And so a couple of weeks before graduating, I got a call from Jim Glatch, the coach of their wheelchair basketball team. He said, How do you feel about coming to Edinburgh and play wheelchair basketball? And I was like, Absolutely. Give me an opportunity to be a student-athlete again, because I’m a competitor at heart in everything I do.
So I come in, I haven’t played in eight years, and I’m the worst guy on the team by a mile. But what’s kind of crazy is that I came to a team that was championship-ready. So I got to play against some of the best—Jose Leep, Mike Looney, multiple all-Americans. And since I was the last guy on the totem pole, it was one of those things where I knew I had to put in extra work. I’m like a gym rat. I’m studying film. Back then we didn’t have a digital playbooks, so I scanned our playbook and uploaded each play into my computer and color-coded it. We ended up making it to the championship that year, and I was the eighth man on that roster. When I got there, my coach could probably have pulled one or two people out of the stands who would have played before me. But by the championship game, I was the first one off the bench when they were making substitutions. So that grind of playing with some of those athletes was phenomenal. And I tell those guys, if it wasn’t for that team and the experience they had, I wouldn’t be where I am today. So I thank them all the time.
When did Paralympic competition come onto your radar? Were you already thinking about that by the end of that first year at Edinboro?
It was definitely on my radar at that point, because college is basically the feeder system to Team USA. Almost everyone who plays on Team USA has gone through the college program. So in my second year at Edinboro, I printed out my goals and posted them on my wall. And the picture at the top of that pyramid was winning gold for Team USA. And underneath that were different goals that, if I could check those off, would ultimately lead to the goal of winning a gold medal. Right underneath that was playing professionally in Europe and winning a national title. So representing Team USA has been on my mind since I was a sophomore in college.
You mentioned playing professionally. Is that a box you checked off at some point along the way?
Absolutely. It was right after London [the 2012 Paralympics]. We won bronze, and they brought in a new coaching regime. And the new coach looked at me and he said, “You’re a heck of a defender, but we want more out of you offensively.” And to my athletic mind. I heard: Trey, you’re half a player. You can can’t play anything but half the game. So I knew I needed to either focus on my career—I was working full time—or I could take the chance, go overseas, play professionally, and get better. I was 25 years old at the time, and [my wife] Laura and I made the decision to go overseas. I played in the south of France for two years, and we won four of the six cups that we played for. So we were really successful there. But it also allowed me to take a huge jump, because I was able to just focus on basketball. I wasn’t focusing on school and ball, it was just strictly basketball.
That starts to answer one of my next questions, which is to describe your strengths as a player at this stage of your career. Tell me about that evolution from where you were 12 years ago as a defensive specialist in London to the type of player you are today.
I think as I’ve grown as a player and as a person. I’ve gotten incrementally better in being able to shoot the ball, being able to play defense, being fast. But one of the biggest things that’s overshadowed is leadership on the floor. For me, you have to learn to be a good leader that people are willing to follow into battle. We have some new guys on our team, and I remember what it was like in 2012, to be in awe of everything that’s going on around you. So it’s kind of awesome to look through them and see the old me. But as I’m getting towards the tail end of my career, I know what it’s like to chase championships. I understand what it takes to get to that ultimate goal. That’s the biggest thing for me, is to get the trust of my teammates. I want to be that bridge for them in 2024. Being able to love every aspect of this journey, and to celebrate that with my teammates and my family along the way, is just phenomenal.
I know you’re not playing professionally now, and you have a full-time career [with the US Secret Service]. How to you stay in shape between national team training camps and competitions? Do you have a group of players you can compete with? Or does it just come down to working out solo in the gym ?
I do a little bit of everything. I play with a local club team here in Washington DC; We just recently finished second in the national tournament. A lot of college guys come down, and I play with some of them and we train together. But the bulk of the training for Team USA is done individually. We’ll get together as a team every few weeks, but in between we have to stay in tip-top shape. I get my lifting in three times a week, my cardio is three times a week, and I try to shoot anywhere between five to six times a week.
I’m also a full-time dad, and I’m full-time employed with the federal government, so you have to constantly make sure you have a balance. It was kind of funny, the other day my daughter was having a conversation with her friend, and the friend was saying “Your dad works out really hard,” and my daughter said, “No he doesn’t, he just plays wheelchair basketball.” At first I was kind of offended, because it takes a lot of hard work to get to this level. But then I started thinking about it, and I thought: That’s is a true testament that I’m present in our family’s life when I’m home. It’s not that daddy’s always away at the gym. So that made that made me feel better about it. In the moment it did sting, I’m not gonna lie. She doesn’t know what Daddy does to get to this level. But that means that when I’m home, I’m attentive and there for her.
The sport itself has really come a long way over the 12 years you’ve been playing for Team USA. What’s your perspective as someone who has been involved at every level, from college to pros to the international game?
I’m gonna break that up into two different components. The first is what wheelchair basketball looked like from 2012 to 2024, and then what parasport looks like from 2012 to 2024. In the basketball realm of things, the biggest thing is that we’ve transitioned the style of game. When I was a rookie on the scene, everybody went for a kind of 1990s NBA-style basketball, where everyone had to be bigger than everyone else. If your team was bigger, then you could score, and everybody tried to mimic that philosophy. It wasn’t until 2016 when the US pivoted to more of a speed game. We might not be as big as you, but we have fast guys. We’re gonna try to press you, play hard defense, and keep those big guys away from the basket. So now you see the world kind of transitioning to what we’ve done. A lot of the teams are mimicking some of the things we’re running, all the way from the way they use their personnel to the coaching strategies. That’s kind of awesome to see, but it makes it harder on us, because they’re taking our blueprint and doing a great job at it. That keeps us on our toes from a basketball perspective.
From a parasports perspective, I think there’s been astronomical growth [since 2012]. I remember when we were in London, my family had a hard time trying to catch our games. But when I was in Tokyo, I literally had a friend call me after the gold medal game and tell me, “I just went to go pick up food from the bar, and I saw the gold medal game on TV.” That shows the growth. People are accepting parasports as parallel to our [nondisabled] counterparts. They’re seeing wheelchair basketball and parasport as [an equivalent] part of sports world, which is just awesome. I’m an advocate for wheelchair basketball, because that’s the game that has given me so much. But I respect all the other games that are at this level—blind soccer, goal ball, sitting volleyball, all these different sports are opening minds and people are starting to be embrace those things, see them on a world-class stage, and understand that we’re masters of our craft.
I only started watching wheelchair basketball in 2020, and the speed of the game was something I wasn’t expecting. Is it a completely different game today than it was in 2012, or more of an evolution?
It’s always been a fast game. I just think it got incrementally faster. When we implemented our style of play, we wanted to get out in transition. We know the easiest buckets we can get are when we’re out running the floor. We have some of the best shooters in the world, but if we can get easy points, layups, by going up and down the court, we’re definitely going to take it.
When people saw us starting to have that level of success, they started mimicking our style. Japan is a great example of that. They have one of the best big men in the world, but if you watch that gold medal game [at the 2021 Paralympics], he was only out there in spurts, whereas their fast lineup was out there for the majority of the game. And they pushed us well into the fourth quarter, when we finally started taking over from the defensive and a transitional standpoint. But that’s what the game is currently. I’m not trying to be cocky, I say this humbly, but I think we had a big impact on that.
Do you think teams are looking for different types of athletes in order to play that style? Or are they just coaching differently and teaching their players to accentuate speed and hone that ability?
When I when I’m coaching—because I’m a player-coach on our team—I’ll tell our guys that wheelchair basketball is played between the three-point lines. If you’re able to get between the three-point lines quickly, you’re able to be versatile in everything that you do. It makes you like a Swiss Army knife. We can run pick-and-roll, slip picks—we can put you into any position. Whereas if you’re rigid, if you can’t get from point A to point B quickly, if you only have one or two players who can get you out of a pinch, then it makes things more difficult for doing your role. So speed is vital for success, especially at the elite level.
Let me go back to this friend of yours who saw the gold medal game on TV at the bar. Do you have the sense that higher visibility for parasports is having an impact outside the sports arena, and educating people about disability more broadly?
That really hits home, because a lot of times people see us playing sports on the world stage and think it ends there. The biggest thing we can do is change perspectives and change lives for other individuals. I’ve had the blessing and the opportunity to change this narrative. You know, one of my big sponsors was Citi, and Citi had the STARE campaign. For the entirety of my life I’ve been stared at because I’ve been different. Kids have stared at me, parents have stared at me, and it’s just because I didn’t have any legs. We’re changing that perspective. Now you’re staring at me for all the right reasons. You’re staring at greatness. You’re staring at gold medals. You’re not staring at me because you feel bad for this person. You’re staring at me because I am out and about, having a blast with my kids on the playground. We’re demolishing the stigmas that surround disability. That’s what I’m proud of. It’s not just about the sport—it’s outside of sport. When my career’s over, I want people to look back on my legacy not just as an athlete, but as an advocate to make change for individuals with disabilities.
The disabled community makes up the largest minority group, but we also have the largest unemployment rate of any minority group. One of the hats I wear is full-time employee with the federal government, and if I can do that job, there are plenty of other highly qualified individuals with disabilities who should be out here working as well. They just need the opportunity, and I’m trying to show that we can get this done.
The STARE campaign was awesome, and I’m just gonna say that it’s phenomenal to have an organization that’s not only willing to give you a platform to talk on, but that will actually listen to you. Citi has asked for our perspectives. And you’re not just seeing the perspective of one wheelchair basketball player. You’re getting the perspectives of athletes from different parts of the world, where access to equipment is not the same. We’re leaning in to have an honest conversation, and I’m truly excited about it.
I know employment is a big passion of yours, and it’s really important to our readers as well. What trends do you see that are encouraging? And where do you see obstacles that still need to be elbowed aside to create more opportunities?
The first thing that I would say is there’s a lack of understanding the resources we have for individuals with disabilities to become employed. Getting government assistance is not a way of life. It’s hard to support a family on those checks. I’m eternally grateful for the fact that I was able to get assistance when I needed it, but now that I’m looking at the house, the car note, and all the different bills you’re paying for to support a family, there would be no way for me to be able to do that.
Many people with disabilities don’t know about something called Schedule A, which gives you a boost when you apply for jobs within the federal government. It’s not going to allow you to get jobs that you’re not qualified for. But if you are qualified, and you have a letter from a Vocational Rehab counselor or your doctor, it brings your resume to the forefront. It allows us to get a foot in the door. And that’s all I’m asking for. Because I’m a true believer that if you are given a foot in the door, it is your responsibility to knock it down. When I do public speaking, my message is that if you give me the opportunity, it’s my responsibility to bring it home. That’s what I want for the disabled community. They’re getting degrees, they’re getting the education that they need, they just need that foot in the door, that extra two inches, to be able to bring it home. Once we start to understand the resources that are there for us, I think that’s going to help us out a lot.
On the obstacles side, I think some organizations and businesses are using the term “disability” with too wide of a net, and I would say that takes away opportunities for individuals with actual disabilities. Let’s say, hypothetically, you have a stubbed toe, and they put you under their “individuals with disabilities” category. That’s taking an opportunity away from someone who could actually use the resources. Or let’s say you allow an individual with a disability to come in to work as a custodial person, and their ability to climb the ladder stops at a certain level. Are we giving this person an opportunity to manage or supervise? Or are we putting them in a system where they grade out as a mid-level employee, but they can’t reach upper echelon. So now my pivot is not only to get individuals with disabilities in the door, I want them working at all levels—supervision and executive levels, running organizations and corporations. I want to see the full gamut, across the board. I’m very passionate about doing more than checking a box or meeting a quota. It’s about actually giving someone with a disability the opportunity to showcase what they can do.