An Arlington Heights man's unbreakable bond with his teammate

FAIRBORN, Ohio - ESPN missed the boat.

During last Friday's broadcast of Wright State's gripping 69-67 victory over Northern Kentucky at the Nutter Center, ESPN twice sent a crew over to Ryan Custer, who was in a green sweatshirt, black shorts and a wheelchair at the end of the Raiders' bench.

They fitted the WSU sophomore with a headset/microphone, set up a camera in front of him and had him tell his story to the nation during the game. A few times his image on TV appeared in split-screen with the action on the court.

But before each interview, they had the guy sitting right next to him - former teammate Mike LaTulip of Arlington Heights - get up and move out of the way.

When they were going strong, would you have split up Jordan and Pippen?

Cousy and Russell?

Shaq and Kobe?

As memorable basketball duos go, Custer and LaTulip are as good as it gets, although the latter was more than gracious about his exit.

"No, I was fine with that," LaTulip said. "I probably could have sat there, but I got up. I wanted it to be about Ryan."

With LaTulip, it's always about Ryan. Especially since that fateful day last April when Custer was hurt in a freak accident while jumping into a makeshift pool at a party near the Miami University campus. The 6-foot-7 forward from Cincinnati fractured his T-5 vertebrae and was left paralyzed from the chest down.

• See the rest of the story by Tom Archdeacon of the Dayton Daily News, at mydaytondailynews.com.