Watch basketball star with severe brain injury score 1st college points on Senior Day

Five years after a car crash left him in a coma and with a severe brain injury, a once-prized University of Vermont basketball recruit got his chance to play Tuesday.

Josh Speidel started for Vermont on his Senior Day, and in a pre-arranged play, he scored a layup on the Catamounts’ first possession of the game.

“I did it, I’m a college basketball player,” Speidel told ESPN after Vermont’s 85-62 win over Albany. “I scored in a college basketball game.”

Vermont head coach John Becker told CBS Sports Speidel “was the best player” he has recruited in his 14-year tenure at the university.

Speidel, who is from Columbus, Indiana, was in a crash during his senior year of high school in 2015, according to the Indianapolis Star.

Vermont honored the scholarship for Speidel, who had more than a dozen Division I offers, Boston.com reported.

He spent nearly four months in the hospital and rehab facility relearning how to walk and talk, according to The Republic.

But he was never cleared to play or practice with the team, Boston.com reported.

Becker gave Speidel his chance to suit up for Vermont for the first time Tuesday.

“It’s a dream come true to look in the box score seeing No. 32, Josh Speidel — it’s a dream come true, and I couldn’t be more happier,” he told ESPN.