COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 23, 2016) – Former Oklahoma Christian basketball player Roderick Green has been named as USA Volleyball's Male Sitting Player of the Year, another honor for an athlete who routinely has broken barriers.

Green, originally from West Monroe, La., competed this summer in Rio de Janeiro in his third Paralympic Games. The 37-year-old Green, who has been with the U.S. Men's Sitting Team since 2005, competed in the Paralympics in track and field in both 2000 in Sydney and 2004 in Athens.

He was the leading scorer for the U.S. team in Rio, finishing with 31 points on 22 kills, eight blocks and one ace in four matches. Green started all 14 sets the U.S. Men's Sitting Team played in Rio. His best performance came in a five-set loss to Germany, in which he scored 17 points on 11 kills, five blocks and one ace. The U.S. Men's National Team had not competed at the Paralympics since 2004.

"Going into Rio, he did a great job of keeping the level of focus we were looking for the entire time," Men's Sitting Team Head Coach Greg Walker said. "He was monitoring his diet and keeping his teammates accountable for their actions."

Green also played a key role for the U.S. Men's Sitting Team at the Intercontinental Cup in China earlier in the year. He finished with 46 points on 32 kills, 10 blocks and four aces in seven matches.

"Guys turned to him as a dominant force at the net and a really great competitor," Walker said. "He was a leader to his teammates and he showed the team what they needed to do versus telling them."

Green was born without a right ankle or fibula and his leg was amputated below the knee at age 2. That didn't keep him from becoming a basketball standout and he received a scholarship in 1997 to play at OC. He competed using a prosthesis made of lightweight, carbon-composite material similar to that used by NASA in space vehicles.

During his time at OC, he began competing in track and field and made the U.S. team for the 2000 Paralympics. He attended OC until 2002 and received his degree in physical education and nutrition in 2004.

USA Volleyball's Sitting Volleyball team is based at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.