From the time he was a kid, Josh Speidel’s dream was to play college basketball.
Speidel took a major step in realizing that dream on Nov. 12, 2014, when just before he was to begin his senior basketball season at Columbus North High School, he signed a national letter-of-intent to continue his career at University of Vermont.
Less than three months later, that dream almost was derailed when Speidel was critically injured, suffering a traumatic brain injury and other bodily injuries resulting from a car accident near Taylorsville on Feb. 1, 2015.
But three days after that accident, Vermont coach John Becker came to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on a snowy night to see Speidel and his parents. Becker assured them that Josh’s scholarship still would be honored.
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A little more than five years later, the Bull Dogs’ all-time leading scorer and an Indiana All-Star is about to realize his dream of playing in a college basketball game.
Becker plans to place the 6-foot-7 senior into the starting lineup Tuesday on senior night against Albany. The Catamounts coach has arranged with Albany coach Will Brown to allow Speidel to make the game’s first basket. After that, Vermont will allow Albany to score, and then Speidel will leave his first — and perhaps last — college game, most likely to a rousing ovation.
“I’m very excited,” Speidel said. “The last five years, it was hard work, and with the right help and with the dedication that I would get to senior night. I’m really looking forward to it, just to put a bow on and wrap up my time at Vermont.”
Road to recovery
The past five years have been anything but easy for Speidel. Following the injury, he spent the next 117 days in the hospital and a rehabilitation facility relearning how to walk and talk.
Speidel returned home just in time to walk — with assistance — across the stage at North to accept his diploma. He wasn’t ready physically or mentally to head 1,000 miles away for college that fall, so he spent the 2015-16 school year working as a classroom instructional assistant at Brown Elementary in Seymour, where his mom Lisa was then the principal.
Then, in August 2016, it was off to Burlington, Vermont. His teammates, coaches and the community welcomed him with open arms, assisting him any way they could.
“They’ve just wrapped him up,” said Lisa Speidel, now principal at Waldron Elementary. “He would not be where he is without the University of Vermont and the state of Vermont.”
While his teammates have been practicing over the past four years, Josh has been working with trainers doing rehab, with a little bit of basketball drills and shooting mixed in. He has not been cleared for contact or practice with the team.
“I’m just doing a lot of work on the side, in the weight room and running, just do as much as I can, maybe not on the court with the team, but with what I’m allowed to do,” he said.
That includes activities such as running, lifting weights and shooting baskets.
“It’s more rehab stuff, mainly balance and agility and stuff like that,” Becker said. “He does get up some shots every day, but it’s not as much about the basketball stuff. He still has the tremors, but he’s definitely running a lot better this year, so that’s exciting.
“I didn’t know what to expect quite honestly, but to think about where he was and where he is now, it’s amazing,” he added. “Obviously, Josh has put the work in. It’s amazing to see. It’s been a long ride, so to speak, with ups and downs, but Josh has been really determined and has kept working and this year, has taken noticeable strides. It’s real exciting.”
When Josh returned home in the summers, he would spend time playing basketball in his driveway with his father David. Josh also has joined in some pickup games at First Christian Church.
“Every time he has come back and spent time, we go to the gym and will shoot around,” David Speidel said. “He’s got a little bit better each time, and I know he goes in with the guys at First Christian. He got to running up and down the floor and shooting the ball. He just gets better every time I see him.”
Ready to graduate
About a year after his accident, a doctor told Josh he probably wouldn’t learn above a fourth-grade level the rest of his life.
But in May, Speidel will graduate from Vermont in only four years.
“I didn’t know how long it was going to take,” he said. “I was just looking to graduate, whether it was four years or five years or six years or however long it took. It was hard work, but with all the extra hands and guidance, that made it possible.”
Josh entered this school year with 3.4 GPA. He is in the College of Education with a self-designed major to prepare him to work with kids primarily through sports. He also has a double minor in Behavior Change and Coaching.
“He was a student first,” Lisa Speidel said. “He laughed, and he would tell the boys, ‘If you beat me on the basketball court, I’m going to beat you in the classroom.’ Despite the brain injury, he’s been able to overcome those challenges and do those things that people said he would never be able to do.”
Becker said it won’t be the same without Speidel around Vermont next year.
“It will be strange not to have him here,” Becker said. “But I’ve been doing this long enough, it’s just the way it goes. But absolutely, we’ll miss Josh around here, and we’ll see what the next chapter has for him.”
Josh isn’t sure what that next chapter entails.
“Wherever God takes me, I’m keeping my options open,” he said. “If something comes up, I’d like to work with kids after college.”
Set for senior night
When Columbus North had its senior night for boys basketball in 2015, Josh was in the hospital. His parents and sister Micayla attended the pregame festivities in his place.
Tuesday night, David and Lisa will be at Vermont’s Patrick Gymnasium, along with David’s mother (Josh’s grandma) to join him on the Catamounts’ senior night.
“I wasn’t able to walk out with them on my senior night,” he said. “It will be emotional to take the court with them for senior night.”
That won’t be the only emotional part for the Speidels. A few tears likely will be shed when he takes the court for the opening tip.
“I talked to Coach Becker and thanked him so much,” David Speidel said. “It’s something they didn’t have to do. It will be very emotional for a lot of people. Just the whole university and the whole state of Vermont has been wonderful to him.”
Lisa Speidel is thankful that Josh has had playing in a basketball game as a goal in his recovery process.
“I think we’ve always believed,” Lisa Speidel said. “We didn’t want to stop believing, and we didn’t want Josh to stop believing that because it has been such a driving force in his recovery. Last year, it was a really big transition year, and he realizes, ‘My time is coming to an end, and I don’t know if I’m going to be at a level I dreamed about,’ but he’s in a good place. He’s come to terms with that. But without basketball and without that drive, I really don’t think that he would be where he is.
“This has been his dream,” she added. “His dream has been to play college basketball, and he gets to. Josh said, ‘If it’s a game, or it’s 10 minutes or just one minute, I’m excited I get to play college basketball.’”
Tuesday’s game begins at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN+.
“Being raised the way I was, I always have that positive outlook and that light at the end of the tunnel,” Josh said. “I always thought I’d get out there. I’m just happy that I’ll be able to take the court just once in my time at Vermont. That’s all I can ask for.”
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Columbus’ Josh Speidel will start in the Vermont Catamounts’ game against Albany on Tuesday, his first appearance in the starting lineup for the team. Coach John Becker plans to place the 6-foot-7 senior into the starting lineup Tuesday for senior night at Vermont. Tuesday’s game begins at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN+.
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Additional photos of Josh Speidel’s journey to recovery and his time as a Vermont Catamount basketball player are in a gallery at therepublic.com.
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