WARREN COUNTY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — An incredible and heartwarming moment between two players on opposing teams at a New York basketball tournament was caught on camera.
Jacoby Egloff, 10, of Bolton Central School, a child with Down syndrome, made a buzzer beater basket after Tyce Mulder, who plays for Queensbury, passed him the ball.
NewsNation affiliate WTEN caught up with Jacoby, Tyce, their proud mothers, and their coaches to learn more about the special moment.
Jacoby is a busy kid. In addition to his studies, he runs a coffee cart with his teachers called The Eagle Express selling coffee and muffins to the faculty every Friday. He also attends and travels to all of his sibling’s varsity games and plays the trombone.
But it’s easy to tell what he likes the best.
“I was the buzzer beater!” the fifth grader exclaimed. “My favorite thing is to shoot baskets. When I was little, I used to play basketball at the Y with my mom.”
“He brings so much joy at the school and to sports and just everyone that’s in his life, that it’s nice that he’s getting his little time to show what he’s got,” his mom, Janell Egloff, said.
And Jacoby’s got skills. He already has five years of experience and is well-known in his league. In fact, it was a student from the opposing team who sparked the idea, recognizing Jacoby from last year and felt it was important that he get a chance to score in this game.
Queensbury Coach Hilary Haskell talked to the team about students with differences, and they came up with a plan.
“The possession before that, Jacoby came down the court, and one of my players had pretended to fall down,” she explained. “Jacoby wasn’t able to score on that possession, but the next time down, one of my players caught the ball, gave it back to Jacoby and with 1.6 seconds left, Jacoby shot the ball, went in, and it was a huge celebration.”
It was just as exciting for the crowd as it was for Tyce, the opposing player from Queensbury, who passed Jacoby the ball. Tyce was still humble about it and gave a lot of credit to his squad.
“I have a really good team,” he said. “The kids are really nice and supportive. We were all talking about it — about doing it — I just had the perfect opportunity.”
He also shared the credit with his mom.
“For my whole life, she wants me to be a kind person,” Tyce said.
“You never really know as a parent whether it’s sinking in until it plays out like it did, and I don’t think I could’ve hoped for anything better,” Tyce’s mom, Jillian Mulder, said.
Video of the special moment took social media by storm with Tyce, Jacoby, and their teammates empowering others to do what’s right, understand, and embrace differences. Jacoby’s mom saw it as the culmination of years of inclusion with all the other kids at Bolton Central School since he was in Pre-K.
“If you have a child that has a disability or something that society labels a little different, don’t limit them,” Janell said. “Let them go. Let them try. Although Jacoby learns a lot from the school and from the kids he’s around, they learn just as much.”
