Emotional day for Speidels, UVM

When the University of Vermont men’s basketball team strolled out for final warm-ups Saturday afternoon, Josh Speidel also emerged from the locker room, dressed to impress.

Wearing a blue bowtie and with suspenders strapped over his shoulders, the dapper Speidel took in an impromptu round of applause from the Patrick Gymnasium crowd.

A minute-long standing ovation — prior to player introductions — soon followed.

The message to Speidel, joined by his parents, Dave and Lisa, was clear: Welcome to Vermont.

“This is where Josh wants to be. This is where we want him to be,” Dave Speidel said.

With his parents by his side in front of the UVM bench, Josh Speidel waved and acknowledged to the season-high crowd of 2,658.

A year after a car crash left him with a traumatic brain injury that nearly took his life, Speidel made his first trip to Burlington since he gave his verbal commitment to UVM in the summer of 2014.

“A dream come true. When I committed here, I was envisioning maybe not this way but the welcoming from the home crowd — it was great,” Josh Speidel said.

The Catamounts and their fans cheered for Speidel as one of their own. And Speidel and his parents got an in-person experience to further a growing connection to Vermont that began 900 miles away in Columbus, Indiana.

“What can you say? This is why this program, this town, this community is special. We are all lucky to be part of it,” said UVM coach John Becker following the 72-61 loss to league favorite Stony Brook. “They did what you thought they would do — just classy by our community.”

The Speidels have been receiving letters of well-wishes with Vermont postage from people that they didn’t know. So as the calendar drew closer to Feb. 1, the year anniversary of the car crash, the Speidels wanted to be in Burlington to signify the tremendous steps of their son’s recovery.

“We know this is where Josh is supposed to be,” Lisa Speidel said. “And what a better way for us to look forward instead of us looking back.”

The Speidels, hosted by former UVM coach Tom Brennan at his Colchester home, will stay in Vermont until Thursday.

“I thought there was no better place to be on Feb. 1,” Lisa Speidel said.

Josh Speidel received a touching tribute in his home state when UVM took on nationally ranked Purdue in November. Speidel also joined UVM for the Florida game. He sat on the Catamounts bench for both of those games, thanks to a season-long waiver granted by the NCAA.

But Saturday, the cheers and courtside seat, right in the mix with his UVM teammates and coaches, created new emotions.

“I think it’s different because it’s home. This is where he’s going to be,” Dave Speidel said. “To be here with so many people who have been praying for us and who are exciting see Josh come here — we are going forward.”

Lisa Speidel: “God’s hand was in this from the very beginning, from the moment that Josh’s car was hit miracles started happening.”

Brennan, Speidel strike up relationship

Faith binds the Speidel family. It guides them to believe their son, already defying doctors’ odds in his recovery from a coma, will one day play basketball at UVM.

“We don’t know where it’s going to go. What we do know is that what the doctors told us on Feb. 3, Feb. 4 that Josh would not be here,” Lisa Speidel said. “The doctors, they were doing their job, and we’ve just chosen to …”

And then interrupting his mother, Josh Speidel said, “Not listen.”

Laughter ensued and Lisa Speidel followed up to say: “Keep pushing forward and believing. Those doctors and therapists are Josh’s biggest cheerleaders.”

If faith is their backbone, some levity from Josh Speidel couldn’t hurt.

“He always trying to find ways to make me laugh. He will make this loss not hurt as much,” said Ernie Duncan, also an Indy native.

Duncan’s ties to Speidel date back to the Indiana high school and AAU scene. Duncan also helped recruit Speidel to UVM.

“I would text him every day to the point where he wouldn’t answer me,” Duncan said. “I was always on his back trying to get him here and I’m glad he’s finally here.”

When Duncan was subbed out of Saturday’s game, he would sit next to Speidel, who offered up his advice for the freshman point guard.

“He would always give me tips, ‘Hey, you need to be more aggressive and start making shots,’” Duncan said.

Instead of providing insight from the bench, the 6-foot-8 Speidel would have been playing Saturday against America East favorite Stony Brook if not for the accident.

“I would have loved to put him in the game. I think about that every game we play and every day,” Becker said. “But Josh being here, we’ve all been waiting a long time to get him here and to have him here for an extended amount of time and have things feel like they are supposed to be — we are now a complete team.”

That’s the reality of the situation. Speidel should be playing for the Catamounts, but his family remains strong ever since “our life took a turn.”

“I think for our whole family this is the next step, the next boost that we need to keep moving forward,” Lisa Speidel said. “I’m very proud of Josh. His work ethic and his desire to keep getting better to live his dreams.

“To see him to take that step — another step today — was pretty overwhelming.”

This story was originally published on Jan. 30, 2016. Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/aabrami5