It takes a lot of courage to quit a team before the season even starts, but it takes even more courage to return to the team the next season and decide to suit up in uniform the second time around.

Millikin basketball’s Bryn Agnew was the boy whose courage and love of the game quickly guided him back to the court for the 2013/2014 season.

The 6’8, Towanda native was recruited to be a part of Millikin’s basketball team as an incoming freshman, but right before the season began, he decided to hang up his shoes.

“I didn’t feel like I was ready to put my energy into basketball and school,” Agnew said.  “School hit me hard last year and I decided I needed to focus on my grades.”

“He was a highly sought after recruit of Coach Nadelhoffer and the coaching staff,” Coach Blake Reynolds said. “When he came to campus, he participated in the grueling preseason conditioning, but decided right before the season that he didn’t want to play.”

Even though Agnew chose not to be on the roster, his love for basketball did not completely take him away from the team. The first day of practice, head coach Matt Nadelhoffer called Agnew into his office and offered him the chance to be a team manager. Because of his relationship with his teammates already, Agnew knew what his response had to be.

“I thought it was an awesome idea,” Agnew said. “One of my biggest fears was that once I quit the team I would lose my friends on the team. I had become close with a lot of guys, and being team manager would help me from losing those friends.”

Although he may have only been a part of the team to take stats and be there to encourage his teammates, Reynolds always knew that Agnew would return to play again one day.

“As the season went on, you could see Bryn develop the desire to play again. During practice, he would often go to a side basket and shoot around. At these moments, the coaching staff would make eye contact with each other and smile because we knew he would eventually be back,” Reynolds said.

Agnew’s love for the sport is contagious and evident as he sits in his Millikin basketball attire and cracks a smile at the discussion about his team.

“The awesome thing about Bryn is that he is not only one of my best friends on the team, but that player on the team that would do anything for anyone,” teammate Jacob Kueker said. “Whether he plays for five minutes a game, or doesn’t get in at all, Bryn is the guy that is there to pick you up when you’re struggling; he makes everyone works harder.”

“I’ll do whatever is needed for the team, on the court or off the court,” Agnew said. “Whether that means doing my part on the court, or just helping a teammate who’s been struggling with issues off the court.”

Agnew is a big part of the team not only as a player, but also because of his personality and character. With Kueker’s wide smile and seriousness in his voice discussing Agnew, it was evident how much of a true friend Agnew is to everyone.

“He may only get in for two or three minutes a game, but he will work harder than anyone on that court for the entire two or three minutes that he’s out there,” Kueker said. “He is exactly the teammate everyone wants on their team.”

So far this season, Agnew has seen the floor in all five of the Big Blue’s games, hoping to continue to make an appearance and help his team. Stepping on the blue and white court in Griswold Gym is truly what makes this tall, wide-eyed, baller happy.

“I learned that sometimes you’re going to have make big decisions in your life and you’re not always going to have enough time to find the right answer,” Agnew said. “When this happens, pick the answer that you know you won’t regret. Basketball season came fast last year and I didn’t know for sure whether or not it would be best for me to go out or just focus on school. During the season, I learned that I made the wrong decision and that I should have just learned to manage my time with school and basketball. I was very lucky to get a second chance with basketball.”

“Bryn saw first hand what this program is all about and knew there were some special things going on,” Reynolds said. “There was no chance he was going to walk away from the new era.”