By RYAN WALKER
Over the weekend, I went back to my alma mater at Huntington University to watch my best friend Bryce Lippe graduate.
It was an honor like no other. Two weeks prior, he offered one of his seven tickets to get into his 9 a.m. graduation slot for me to watch, and of course, I went.
Bryce isn’t just one of my great friends and sports talk buddies. He’s an incredibly talented radio broadcaster, a great worship singer on stage, and a kid with the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.
His diploma looks a little different from the rest of the graduates, as he completed Huntington University’s ABLE program, which stands for Achieving Balance in Life through Education.
Bryce was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and has been blind since birth, which can be an understandable excuse, but he has never once used it.
We bonded through our love and passion for sports, especially college basketball, and baseball — People would like to know he’s an avid Hoosiers and Cubs fan.
My favorite part about Bryce is his ability to take on any challenge and conquer it, never complaining about the circumstance or any trouble. He just gets it done, and he does it with 100 percent effort.
“There was definitely a lot of mixed emotions,” he told me. “I’m excited for the future, but I’m also going to miss my friends and all of the great times I had at HU.”
He can be heard calling radio color commentary for the Warsaw Tigers boys’ and girls’ basketball teams on 93.9 WIOE, as well as a few of the HU men’s basketball games this season. One of his best calls was the Crossroads League semi-final in the Foresters’ win over Taylor.
When we started to get to know one another during his freshman year on campus, he invited me to listen to some of his commentary for a basketball game. I didn’t know what to expect with a visual impairment, but I’ll never forget on the way to Walmart one night, I decided to tune in and was curious about what this would sound like. Needless to say, I was astonished at what I was hearing.
I’m not kidding when I say this; you could listen to the entirety of the broadcast and not have a clue he had a visual impairment. I was impressed at his knowledge of the game and ability to flow with the game through his commentary, expertise, and pulling out statistics like it was nothing. Well, it was nothing. He is just THAT good.
Watching him grow over the past four years and helping him as a right-hand man in classes was an honor. Then, to see him receive his certificate on state Saturday morning was a full-circle moment for me that inspires me every day to give everything I’ve got in any day life and its many challenges.
“I would definitely say I’ve come full circle, and God has blessed me with several great opportunities,” Bryce said.
Bryce, I wish you the best of luck on the next stage and where God will lead you towards.
sports@news-banner.com
