http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyjF5eVoVrI&feature=youtu.be
Texas Tech junior Luke Adams will be the first Red Raider to represent Team USA at the 22nd Deaflympics from July 26 to Aug. 4 in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He has played in 38 games for Tech over the last two seasons. He was born deaf and is one of 42,000 adults in the US to wear a cochlear implant and hearing aid.
However, while training with the team in Maryland and playing for USA in Bulgaria, he and his teammates will not be allowed to wear their cochlear implants and hearing aids on the court.
“My whole life I have always played with a cochlear implant and hearing aid in, and using my eyes to hear,” Adams said, “so this is going to be different.”
Adams says he is proud to represent Texas Tech on an international level.
“Texas Tech has just given so much to me and my team and we want to give back to them,” Adams said.
Adams says it will be a nice change of pace, in preparation for the upcoming 2013-2014 season.
“Anytime you have something new, it is going to be exciting,” he said.
He is the first Red Raider to appear on a USA national team of any kind since Jason Sasser played for Team USA at the 1998 World Championships.
