When Josh Speidel graduated from Columbus North High School in 2015, he was pushed across the stage in a wheelchair by his father and basketball coach.
At that time, Speidel was only three months removed from a car accident that left him with a traumatic brain injury and ended his competitive basketball career.
But Speidel headed to University of Vermont a year later after Catamounts coach John Becker continued to honor his scholarship, and Speidel was determined to walk across the stage at his college graduation.
Last weekend, Speidel walked across the stage to accept his diploma from Vermont. He actually graduated last year, but the school’s in-person ceremony was postponed to this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It was great, just seeing a bunch of people and being able to walk on my own,” Speidel said. “They gave us our diploma, but it didn’t have our name. It was nice to walk across the stage my myself with no assistance. That kind of put it in perspective. It felt good.”
Speidel had not been back to Vermont since finishing classes last May.
“I just wanted to get up there because I had to leave in such a hurry because Vermont went into shutdown when COVID hit,” Speidel said. “It was nice to get some final closure and thank-yous.”
Speidel made national news in March 2020 when he scored the first basket in the Catamounts’ senior night game in a prearranged play. It was the only college game in which he played. He earned a Musial Award for the play last December.
Last spring, Speidel won Vermont’s Russell O. Sunderland Memorial Trophy, which is given to a male and female senior athlete who have exemplified character, leadership and persistence in overcoming obstacles. He also won the America East Conference’s Inspiration Award.
Speidel and his parents David and Lisa made the trip back to Burlington, Vermont, last weekend to see some old friends.
“It was great,” Josh said. “A lot of the team wasn’t there. There were only a couple players, but I enjoyed seeing some old memories, walking down the street and seeing the house where I lived.”
Although head coach John Becker was out of town, Josh was able to see assistant coach Ryan Schneider and director of athletic performance Marc Hickok while in Vermont.
“When we moved him back to Columbus when the pandemic was starting, we had to leave Vermont so quickly that we didn’t get a chance to have some heart-to-heart conversations with people,” Lisa Speidel said. “When we got word that they might have (the graduation) in person, Josh was like ‘This is a big deal.’ Last weekend was a chance to put into words how appreciative we were for them and the university.”
Josh, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Thursday, began his coaching career last winter as an eighth-grade assistant basketball coach at Northside Middle School. He is in his second year as a Life Skills teaching assistant at Schmitt Elementary, where he works with Life Skills teachers Rex Sharp and Arien Lucas.
“I love it,” he said. “It wears me out, but I absolutely love it. I’m working on getting my teachers’ license, but I’m still learning the ropes and learning things from other teachers. I couldn’t be more thankful for where I’m at and who I get to learn from every day.”
