EDINBORO — Jim Glatch has become quite the gold-digger.

The 1979 Butler graduate and coach of the United States men’s wheelchair basketball team recently returned from Mexico, where he led the U.S. squad to the gold medal in the Pan-Am Games in November.

Entering his 17th season as wheelchair basketball coach at Edinboro University, Glatch has guided U.S. teams to gold medals at international tournaments in France, Vancouver (B.C.) and Mexico since 2009.

The Americans captured the bronze medal at the world championships in England last year.

“That’s my only blemish,” Glatch said.

He’s working hard on rectifying it.

“You’re allowed to take a roster of 12 to a major international competition,” Glatch said. “How many you have in the program is unlimited.

“I wanted to keep 18 this year and we set up four camps to try to find the best players available to us.”

Glatch and his staff search wheelchair basketball camps in Detroit, Philadelphia, San Jose and Tampa, eventually taking 72 prospective players and whittling that list to 18.

“This past summer, we set up two groups of nine players each to get everybody plenty of competition,” Glatch said. “We chose 12 to take to to Mexico, but the other six are still part of our program and could be selected to go to England with us.”

The Paralympics take place in England in August of 2012. Training camp for that event begins in February.

If its performance in Mexico last month was any indication, Glatch has his U.S. team more than ready.

The Americans won all of their games at the Pan-Am Games, being outscored in only two of 24 quarters. Their closest game was an 18-point victory over Argentina and the U.S. defeated Columbia by 20 in the gold-medal game.

Included among its six wins was an overwhelming 87-7 triumph over El Salvador.

“We play in a number of events to get the team ready for international play,” Glatch said. “At our training camp in Geneva, Ohio, we played an exhibition game against Cleveland Cavalier coaches and alumni.”

The United States roster includes collegiate players from all over the country and a number of players who play on wheelchair teams overseas.

“Getting everybody together can be a chore,” Glatch admitted. “But the keys to success in this sport, like most sports, are discipline and communication. These guys have that.

“The ability to talk and listen on the court, while maintaining focus, means everything.”

Glatch is back coaching his Edinboro team now, the meat of that schedule coming around Jan. 20. The United States team will compete for the Great Britain Cup in England in May.

Players must have some type of lower extremity disability to compete in wheelchair basketball.

“With the national program, you can’t win without discipline and these guys get that,” Glatch said. “They stay in the best shape possible, work on their shots and constantly train.

“They’re preparing to be the best in the world.”