Brandon Baker faded to the right corner, caught the ball behind the arc and smoothly flicked his wrist. Swish.

The Averett University men's basketball senior hadn't played a second all season, but he wasn't letting a debilitating illness stop him from making a few memories on Senior Night on Feb. 13. Just 14 seconds into the game in which Baker made an unexpected start, the 6-foot-2 guard gave everyone — including himself — a night to remember.

"It felt amazing. I love shooting the basketball and that's what they asked me to do," Baker said. "Coach drew it up for me to sit in the corner — the best spot in the world to shoot a basketball, and I knew as soon as it left my fingertips it was going through the net."

Fellow senior and long-time best friend James Contreras Jr. passed Baker the ball before his big shot and said it was remarkable and emotional. The two were teammates before, having played together at Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"Right when it released from my hand and I know he's catching it, I didn't have a doubt that it wasn't going to go in," Contreras said. "Seeing him go from laying in a hospital bed, to coming back and making the first shot of the game on senior night, that's something someone could write a book about."

Baker finished with a pair of 3-pointers after hitting another to start the second half and totaled six points in five minutes on Senior Night. For the moment, it made those days in the hospital seem long ago. In reality, they weren't.

Baker entered his senior year slightly discouraged, knowing that he would potentially never have the opportunity to play collegiately after battling severe Ulcerative Colitis. He had been through two surgeries, several hospital visits and lost close to 30 pounds in a month while being in the hospital.

"My body had just shut down and stopped working. I didn't have any energy and it was a hassle to even walk," Baker recalled. "They gave me medicine that they give to cancer patients. I had to go to the hospital and sit with IVs stuck in me for six hours every day for two to three weeks. Nothing worked."

After realizing that everything to prevent Baker from having surgery was not working, he knew he had to choose his health over playing basketball. And he knew he had ths support of his teammates, coaches and his Averett family the whole way.

"I always knew I had their support," he said. "We had some conversations that were tough. But there are going to be tough situations you have to get through in life, and this was just one of them."

His coaches and teammates visited him several times a week while he was in the hospital recovering both over winter break and over summer.

"We are a family so we wanted to support him and make sure he knew we were there for him," Averett head coach David Doino said. "He needed people around him to keep his mind off things and keep him smiling. That's what families do for each other."

Baker said his visits from student assistant coach Michael Brackett, fellow senior Darin Ketner, as well as Contreras made it easier for him to adjust to his new life.

"I had James and Mike in there watching the NBA Finals with me. I'd been watching by myself, but it was the final game and they wanted to surprise me and show up," he said.

Even when his teammates and coaches weren't there, they were communicating with him and letting him know they were thinking about or praying for him.

"I knew I needed to be positive in the situation I was in. It helped having James and Darin talking to me and helping me through every step of the way," Baker said. "When I had to walk, they would encourage me, so I could get better and build up energy."

Ketner watched Baker get stronger and rely on God throughout the entire experience.

"Brandon is honestly one of the toughest guys I've ever met in my life," Ketner said. "He never complained about it once. He just kept fighting and kept going."

With everyone's support, it made Baker feel like nothing was wrong.

"It was like I wasn't even in the hospital," he said. "We were joking around and I knew everything was going to be alright no matter what happened."

Ketner says it was great to see one of his best friends finally getting his energy back.
    
"He had energy to laugh with us again and have some fun. It was great to see him like that."

Not only did Baker have the support of his immediate family, his coaches and his teammates, but also others at Averett including President Dr. Tiffany Franks, Director of Athletics Meg Svents and Sports Information Director Drew Wilson, who each reached out to him with their condolences.
    
When Baker heard that Stevens was calling his doctors to make sure he was getting the best of the best, it was an eye-opener about his school in terms of the motto, "One Team, One Family."

"It really is family oriented and you have support from everybody," he said. "I had something to come back for, even though I knew I wasn't going to be able to play. I had that family atmosphere to come back to that wasn't blood."

When Baker was finally able to come home, that love and support from his Averett family was present more than ever.

"We didn't want to make it seem like he was going through that stuff, so we kept it the same as it had been," Contreras said. "We were pulling pranks on each other and doing all this crazy stuff. We didn't want him to think about it."

Baker, Ketner and Contreras all recalled the day he came home from the hospital.

"Me and Darin duck-taped a maze through his entire room that he had to get through just to get to his bed," Contreras said. "It was funny, and it was the first time in a while that he had smiled. We wanted him to know we had his back and we are going to go through it with him."

Baker says there were streamers, balloons and toilet paper everywhere. As well as a sign that said "Welcome Back Bro!"

"It was a reminder that I'm not alone and I have people that will support me through anything," Baker said. "That atmosphere of having teammates and coaches that love you and support you definitely got me through every situation."

Baker remained on the men's basketball roster and sat with the team at every game while attending every practice he was able.

"My coaches knew that even if I wasn't able to play again, I was still a leader on the team," said Baker. "It wasn't physically realistic for me to come back to play."

Meanwhile, his teammates used Baker's story as motivation.

"This year I played every single game for him," said Contreras, who said his high school teammate was one of the main reasons he committed to Averett.

Doino said Baker never stopped working hard, no matter his situation. As the season progressed, the chance of Baker returning became more of a possibility. He dressed for several games leading up to Averett's final home game. Once Baker felt that he could safely be in the game, Doino decided he would start him on his Senior Night.

"I owed it to him in my opinion," Doino said. "He's done so much for me and this program that I owed it to him to start him with his best buddies."

Baker was completely taken off guard, only being told at walk-through, two hours before tip-off.

"I was starting and the first shot was going to be mine to take," said Baker, who had never started during his first three seasons. "When coach announced that, everybody was going crazy."

"Our guys instantly all started clapping and screaming and at that moment, I knew we were ready to go," Doino said.

Baker said it was exciting to hear his name called, be able to run through all of his teammates cheering for him and see the crowd.

"It was cool to break through the wall of those guys, kind of like getting through everything and seeing the end of the road."

Contreras said it was special to see Baker back on the court again.  

"He's always talking to us from the bench and supporting us," he said. "But knowing that he could actually step foot on the court and play — after what he's been through — was awesome. It felt just like high school again."

The three said their Senior Night was the first time they have all been on the court together.

"That bond between the three of them is extremely special," Doino said. "James and Brandon went to high school together, that was a lot of the reason why I drew up the first play for James passing the ball to Brandon. I wanted them to have that kind of connection on that and I'm glad it worked out that well."

Ketner says he knew Baker had overcome the illness and that it was awesome to see him go into the game and hit those two 3-pointers. Teammates and coaches were ecstatic for Baker.
    
"It was really emotional, when he hit the second 3," Doino noted. "I actually had to sit down a minute and talk to my assistants. With the battles he went through and seeing what he's overcome, to see him in that moment step up, make the shot and his teammates have the joy that they had for him, was really overwhelming for me at the moment but I was so happy for him."

Doino says Baker has been nothing but loyal to the team and program while putting his teammates before himself.

"He's such a positive role model for our younger guys in how he handled himself on and off the floor. Just the things that he has battled through in his time here, to see the mental toughness that he has, for our guys, that's what you want them to be around.

"To see how far he's come and the things that he's battled through, he's taught me lessons in mental toughness and made me a better coach through this, so I thank him."

Baker says after making it through such a grueling time, his faith has grown because of the amount of prayer said for him, by him and with him.

For Averett, Baker is someone who not only made a difference in a 80-76 win over William Peace University on Senior Night after nearly two years off the court, but also someone that made a difference in people's hearts.

"I love him and would do anything for him," Doino said. "It made us a better program just by having him around."