After Sam acquired his impairment in 2010, his family moved from Adelaide to the US where Sam studied IT systems and joined the University of Washington wheelchair basketball team. There, he won the college championship in back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015.
Sam’s most memorable career moment came when he was named in the Rollers squad for the Asia Oceania Zone Championships, where in late 2015 they qualified for the Rio Paralympics.
Sam was a key bench player throughout the Rollers’ progress to the 2018 World Championships, helping them go through the AOZ Qualifiers undefeated.
Sam made his debut at the 2018 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany as an important low-point member of the team. The Rollers claimed the bronze medal at the Championships, which served as an encouraging step in their rebuild after Rio.
At Tokyo 2020, The Rollers improved on their sixth-place finish at Rio 2016, beating Turkey in their final match to secure fifth place.
Away from the court, Sam enjoys skiing, his favourite sports star is NBA swing-man Andre Iguodala and, with his last $10, he says he would buy a Keno ticket and a meat pie.
Show less