The best sports stories aren’t the ones filled with play-by-play.
While wins and losses come and go with the passing of each season, it’s tales of the human condition that captivate our thoughts and stand the tests of time.
In Bartholomew County, everyone knows Josh Speidel’s story.
This past Tuesday, the world was acquainted with the young man that has overcome more adversity over the past five years than many face in a lifetime.
Speidel suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident near Taylorsville on Feb. 1, 2015. It was his senior year of high school at Columbus North, and he had signed to play on the University of Vermont men’s Basketball team.
When Josh’s parents arrived at the hospital, they were told he was in a coma and might not recover.
That was the first of many times Speidel would prove people wrong.
After spending 117 days in the hospital, Speidel relearned how to walk and talk. He attended his graduation at North, receiving his diploma with assistance across the stage.
Speidel didn’t attend Vermont for the 2015-16 school year, but instead helped as a classroom instructional assistant at Brown Elementary in Seymour.
In August 2016, Speidel packed his bags and headed to college. John Becker, head men’s basketball coach of the Catamounts, made a promise to honor Josh’s scholarship and kept that promise.
Despite not being able to play, Speidel continued to rehab over the past four years while staying involved with the team, sitting on the bench at games and traveling to away games, and participating in basketball camps for future players.
In the days leading up to March 3, Senior Night, Becker announced Speidel would start in a game, grabbing national — and international — attention.
A little over 24 hours prior to the Columbus native’s debut with the Catamounts, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy took a moment on the floor of the United State Senate to commend Speidel.
“(Speidel is) the personification of perseverance, determination, dedication and hope,” Leahy said. “I know my fellow Vermonters were at these games and there will be very few dry eyes in the house. We are all the products of our life experiences. The community that supports us and the will we carry to press on. Josh Speidel’s a remarkable young man.”
Part of Leahy’s statement served as a half-truth.
Tears weren’t just shed at the sold-out Patrick Gymnasium, but in homes across the country before, during, and after Speidel’s basket.
After pregame introductions, and an uncontested score by Albany, the entire crowd got up on its feet.
Each player on the floor touched the ball before Speidel took it up, off a bounce pass by former AAU teammate Everett Duncan, for a right-handed layup and scored.
It was the exact play Speidel had wanted, as he’d asked Becker to run the play as a way to show how everyone was involved in helping him get to that point in his life.
Speidel was taken out of the game after the basket and was met with thunderous applause.
While a tender moment for many, Josh couldn’t help but crack a joke during post-game interviews, telling reporters that he thought about missing the layup so that he could also record a rebound. Finishing his college career at 100% shooting was good enough, he said.
Josh’s journey has inspired so many, but this is just the beginning for the 23-year-old.
Speidel is set to graduate with a 3.4 GPA this spring, starting a new journey in an already remarkable life.
