Have You Seen This? Girl who is blind goes viral with basketball highlight of the year

THE COURT — Sports are a great vehicle for dreams.

With all the Cinderella stories, based-on-a-true-story movies, and rags-to-riches tales, we see a lot of amazing things happen in the sports world. Things that push many people to dig a little deeper and drive a little harder to become part of the few who sit in the sports spotlight.

Even for people who don't care a whit about sports, these stories can be inspiring. Great sports stories don't even have to be the grandest or end in gold medals and million dollar contracts. It can just be one girl with a dream and a moment to make that dream come true.

Jules Hoogland is a 17-year-old basketball player at Zeeland East High School in Michigan. She is blind, and she plays on a team that includes players with and without disabilities.

In this video, Jules is making her last free throw of the season. The crowd is silent enough to hear a pin drop, because Jules takes her free throws in a special way. A woman uses a rod to tap the basketball standard just behind the hoop, so Jules can hear where the ball should go.

After a little setup help from a teammate, Jules takes her jumpshot. And it's perfect. The crowd goes wild, of course, and the video could do nothing but go viral.

Jules told local reporter Melissa Frick from MLive.com that she was anxious to perform in front of a crowd of 2,500, and was proud of herself when she made the shot.

"I was really nervous because all these people are staring at me," she said. "Luckily, I couldn't see them staring at me."

This is the kind of March Madness even nonsportsers can get behind.

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