Five years ago, the night the New England Patriots stunned the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX's final seconds, a car accident nearly took the life of Josh Speidel.

The Indiana native had recently committed to play college basketball for the Vermont Catamounts.

Speidel remained in a coma for five weeks, according to ESPN. Doctors' initial prognoses indicated Speidel would never read above a fourth-grade level and 24-hour assisted living care would be necessary.

Catamounts coach John Becker kept Speidel on scholarship and, after an odds-defying recovery, he will graduate with a 3.4 GPA.

And on Tuesday night — Senior Night — Vermont honored Speidel with a place in the starting lineup and his first collegiate points.

"He would've been an all-time Vermont player," Becker told CBS Sports this week.

'HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS':What scoring first career points meant to Vermont's Josh Speidel

"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," Speidel said.

Albany won the opening tip and quickly scored in an arranged agreement that allowed Vermont to then give the ball to Speidel for a layup. Officials stopped the game, with players and coaches from both teams congratulating Speidel before he walked off the court to a standing ovation.

"I did it. I'm a college basketball player. I scored in a college basketball game ... you can't take that away from me. I'm just so forever grateful."

Speidel joked he considered missing his shot to record an offensive rebound in a quest to fill his stat sheet.

"I was thinking of maybe missing it, maybe to get an offensive rebound in there," he said. "But I figured I might as well go 1-for-1 and shoot 100% in my college career."

March provides the opportunity for magical moments. It'll be tough to top this one in 2020.