Making an impact

The Wright State golf team recently won its sixth Horizon League title and the first since 2004. The last time the Raiders held the title, their most impactful player wasn’t even born.

The golf team signed James “JJ” Hill of Germantown in front of thousands of cheering Raider fans at halftime of the men’s basketball game on Jan. 24.

A few months prior to the signing, James joined Team Impact, an organization that places courageous kids with collegiate athletic teams.

James has Type 1 Diabetes and he requires constant medical attention and is insulin dependent.

When James attends practices with the golf team he can forget about his medical needs. “He gets to be with the guys and not have to stress about blood sugar and being excluded,” said Carly Hill, James’ mom.

“I think he’s taken pretty well to our team,” said Austin Schoonmaker, a junior teammate. “He’s a really good kid and I really enjoy him being around.”

Former Raider golfer Austin Sipe has Type 1 Diabetes as well. “When we got that type of experience dealing with Type 1 Diabetes and JJ can come in and use our former player as a sounding board,” said Brian Arlinghaus, the head coach of the golf team. “It was a perfect fit.”

The team will continue to support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Funding and await their next opponent in the NCAA tournament.