A student was buzzing after finding out he'd 'won $10,000' during a challenge at a women’s basketball game but, in a frustrating twist of fate, he won't be getting a single penny.
Earlier this week on Wednesday (5 February), University of Massachusetts (UMass) student Noah Lee took to the court during the halftime of a basketball game against St Bonaventure to give the challenge hosted by promotion company Odds On Promotions a go.
The challenge in question was to make a layup, free throw, three-pointer and half-court shot within 30 seconds - all of which Lee appeared to have successfully done, with a video shared to Twitter by Josh Schreiber showing him in action.
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Schreiber later revealed the devastating twist in a follow-up post on Twitter that explained 'insurance' had notified Lee he wouldn’t be getting the money.
Lee was unsurprisingly disappointed by the outcome, telling the Daily Collegiate: "[On Thursday], I got an email from the UMass athletics representative saying that the promotion company got back to them and said my foot was on the line and they will not be paying it out, which is obviously a little disappointing."
"I would understand if it was well in front of the half court line, took an extra step, but at worst, he is very clearly AT half court," Schreiber told WHDH in Boston.
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"It’s a hard thing to tell."
While it wasn't the cushty $10k, UMass did offer some stuff to Lee for the unfortunate turn of events with the contest.
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Schreiber said Lee was offered tickets 'for a four-person loge suite at a select men's basketball game of [his] choice this season' alongside being a 'participant in the on-court hot shot shooting contest' at any game he chooses with prizes including 'various gifts for making a layup, free throw and three pointer along with a half court shot that is worth $1,000' if he makes it.
"Similarly to the promo you participated in, there will be a time limitation, one attempt at the half-court shot if you make the other shots etc.," the compensatory offer adds.
UMass also offered Lee 'a pair of court side seats at a select women's basketball game' of his choice, '$100 in gift cards for Mullins Center concessions to be used at the basketball games' and 'a swag bag of Umass gear'.
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It seems Lee is far from salty over the situ saying: "At the end of the day, sure it really sucks with the money, who knows how that’ll play out with the $10,000.
"But, these memories that we’ve all kind of made because of this event are pretty priceless and I’ll definitely remember these for quite a while."
He also told WHDH: "Really grateful for the opportunity just to participate.
"It was a really cool moment. A really cool experience."
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Taking to Twitter, Schreiber later clarified on Thursday (6 February) that UMass women’s basketball was not at fault.
"They are the best, and had nothing to do with Noah not getting the money," he wrote. "Support women’s basketball and don’t attack them for this!!"
UMass has since told Tyla: "We appreciate Noah taking part in the series shootout promotion at our recent women’s basketball game and applaud his efforts. After the contest, we informed Noah we would share the footage with our insurance partner as the next step.
"After their review of the four camera angles we provided, they determined the half-court shot was disqualified as it was not taken behind the half-court line.
"We weren’t satisfied with that outcome and arrived at the decision to provide Noah with both a $10,000 award and a host of additional UMass athletics benefits."
Tyla has also reached out to Odds on Promotions for comment.
Rhiannon Ingle