College basketball player scores 1st points since traumatic brain injury


Josh Speidel waited a long time for this moment.
The University of Vermont senior made his basketball team debut on Tuesday night during a game against the University of Albany. Speidel was a star on his high school team, averaging more than 28 points a game, and in 2015, accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Vermont. Soon after, he was nearly killed in a car accident, and spent six weeks in a coma.
Speidel sustained a traumatic brain injury, but Vermont's coach made sure he was able to keep his scholarship. Although he couldn't start his basketball career during his freshman year, Speidel had the chance to launch it on Tuesday night. With the team cheering him on, Speidel showed how far he's come during the game, scoring two points with a layup. "I can't put into words how it made me feel," he told CBS News, adding, "It's just nice to be able to say I ended my college career shooting 100 percent." Catherine Garcia
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Do smartphone bans in schools work?
The Explainer Trials in UK, New Zealand, France and the US found prohibition may be only part of the solution
-
Doom: The Dark Ages – an 'exhilarating' prequel
The Week Recommends Legendary shooter adds new combat options from timed parries to melee attacks and a 'particularly satisfying' shield charge
-
7 US cities to explore on a microtrip
The Week Recommends Not enough vacation days? No problem.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read