Ty Schultz is quite possibly the most popular seventh grader at Grinnell Middle School and he just also happens to have Down's Syndrome. Despite his special needs, he has still been a member of the Grinnell Middle School basketball team for two seasons. But before Thursday January 12, he had never made a shot in a basketball game.
Ty had played sparingly in games, mostly when the outcome had already been decided. Before each game, Grinnell Middle coach Ed Mense lets other coaches know about Ty's special needs. And that was the case two weeks ago, but he never expected to see the gesture made by Ness City's Devin Brown.
"To show that kind of sportsmanship as a team and to come out and just hand him the ball and to basically just back away and say this is your one shot man we are going to give it to you," said Mense. "And he (Ty) came through big time"
That's right, as a pass intended for Ty wizzed by his head, Brown, a player on the other team, handed Ty the ball and just let him have his moment.
"Coach said when we were in the huddle, just give him a chance to shoot," said Brown. "So I let him have a shot and he threw it up and he shot it, and he made it."
"I saw him shot it and I thought oh that's got to go in," said Evan Tustin, the teammate that tried to pass Ty the ball. "I just saw it go in and I just yelled all the way back down the court."
Evan wasn't the only one yelling, so was the crowd, regardless of what sideline they were sitting on.
"The team for two seasons has wanted to have him make a shot," said Ty's mom Ronna. "So that was pretty awesome."
Getting those two awesome points, has not been as easy you might think for Ty, this is after all a competition.
"After talking to his mom after the game, finding out a little bit more that other teams have not even let him have a shot or anything like that," said Ness City Junior High coach Nathan Copeland.
That being said both teams are a little surprised by all the attention this one small act of kindness has received.
"The recognition that he gets, I don't know if there is enough," said Mense. "It's all deserved."
"To me it's just something that I expect my kids to do, I expect that to happen on and off the court," added Copeland.
And this story continues to grow. This past Thursday night, Ty made yet another shot at the end of a game, which brought his teams final score for the night to 30. Which also happens to be Ty's number.
