IT HAS been a whirlwind breakthrough senior season for Oscar Knight, but the best is yet to come, writes Joseph Saunders.

The Kingsbridge native will arrive at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after earning European silver with Great Britain’s 3x3 wheelchair basketball team in 2025, and two years on from U23 European glory.

But this summer, the 23-year-old will supercharge England’s pursuit of a gold medal in the Commonwealths, ahead of the World Championships later in the year.

He said: “We want to win. We want to get a gold medal 100%. I think we can absolutely do it.

“We've got an extremely talented group of guys and a great coach. I think we're very well prepared for it and hopefully we can come out on top.

“It's another opportunity to play the sport that's my life, so it's an honour. It's on a big stage in a different format as well. 3x3 has a completely different pace and different tactics - it's really amazing.”

First introduced to global multi-sport Games at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, 3x3 basketball is fast becoming a staple of both the Commonwealth and Olympic calendars.

Knight was first introduced to the sport in Devon but scaled the ranks and got his first taste of international representation in 2024. He now plies his trade abroad while balancing national team duties.

Knight said: “I started playing when I was about 11 for a team called Plymouth Fusion. [I didn’t know] if I would be able to play internationally for a whole host of reasons. Now I have played three seasons professionally in Spain and represent GB.

“It's a lot of back and forth. You're out there enough to experience all of the culture but we're back here for camps with both GB and Team England.

“It's amazing playing against some of the best in the world but then that comes with a lot of travel and a lot of really hard work behind the scenes to be able to do it. It's been a rollercoaster ride, but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.”

That rollercoaster ride included a rule change in 2020, which threatened Knight’s eligibility to play the sport he loved so much, even bringing him to consider amputating his legs to comply.

Eventually, the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation and International Paralympic Committee resolved their dispute, and Knight could continue his career.

Next season, he will represent Madrid’s CD Ilunion in the Spanish professional league.

He said: “You've got people flying out of the chairs. You've got amazing shooters.

“I think the best thing about it is that while a lot of disability sports have classifications, in wheelchair basketball, you can have somebody with one disability and then someone else with another. Some more able, some less able, but they will be on the court at the same time.”

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