UNLV Basketball 'Game of Inclusion' puts spotlight on athletes with special needs

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — During the Runnin’ Rebels’ Game of Recognition and Inclusion, athletes with special and additional needs were introduced alongside the team, participated in timeout activities and played in a five-minute halftime game — a moment organizers say represents something much bigger than basketball.

Taylor Rocha shows what this game means for the Las Vegas community:

For Wesley Aylward, a Las Vegas resident who moved from Portland eight months ago, the night was the culmination of something familiar in an unfamiliar place.

“Hoop Camp…it’s where we play basketball with other disabled people,” Aylward said. “You get to see friends you haven’t seen in years.”

Hoop Camp is a long-running foundation that uses sports to support people with special and additional needs. Founder Steve Garrity said the organization has spent more than three decades creating opportunities that many athletes don’t always get.

“These events — this is their Super Bowl, their NBA championship,” Garrity said. “And it’s an honor to be a part of it.”

Garrity said milestones look different for families navigating disabilities, which makes nights like this especially meaningful.

“I don’t like to think about it too much because I’ll get too emotional,” he said. “It’s just a wonderful opportunity.”

UNLV officials say the partnership reflects the university’s broader mission.

“We’re here for the entire community — and that means making sure everybody feels welcome,” said Gene Canal, UNLV’s senior associate athletics director for marketing and fan engagement.

For Aylward, basketball — and Hoop Camp in particular — has helped provide consistency during a period of transition.

“It takes time to get used to a new place,” he said.

Asked what it feels like to step onto a college court in front of a packed arena, Aylward didn’t hesitate.

“It’s like you’re being honored and stuff — like you’re playing in front of a packed house,” he said. “It’s like being sort of like the Super Bowl — or a Stanley Cup Finals game, or NBA Finals, or World Series championship game.”

In the stands, his mother watched a moment she said once felt out of reach.

“This is real inclusion,” she said. “He knows when he’s actually part of it.”

UNLV went on to defeat Air Force 51-48, but for many in the arena, the lasting impact came well before the final buzzer.

For Aylward and the athletes beside him, it was a reminder that the game can still make room — and sometimes, the moment matters most.