Jazz Players Surprise Scholarship Recipients With Video Call
May 19, 2021, 2:00 PM | Updated: May 20, 2021, 12:10 am
Joe Ingles and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz unveiled a program to open the season that would award one student a full-ride college scholarship for each team victory throughout the year.
On Wednesday, the team shared a video of some of those students receiving their scholarships.
The Jazz won 55 games between the regular and preseason this year, totaling 55 scholarships, 3o of which have been awarded to students who may have otherwise not had the opportunity to go to college.
What’s better than granting a scholarship for every Utah Jazz win this season?
Getting to tell the recipients that their life is about to change ❤️ pic.twitter.com/7YPWho77TX
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 19, 2021
“The Utah Jazz are providing a full scholarship to a student from an underrepresented group,” host Nayo Campbell says in the Jazz scholarship video. “That’s four years of tuition, room, and board, books, fees, everything. And after selecting the first 30 scholarship recipients, we had a few special guests help us share that life-changing news.”
The video then shows Jazz players Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Joe Ingles, Mike Conley, Royce O’Neale, Jordan Clarkson, Derrick Favors, and Georges Niang calling the scholarship award winners with the good news.
The students already appear in a state of disbelief having a Jazz player on the other end of a FaceTime call before being told they had earned the scholarship. The reactions range from disbelief to relief, to celebrations with family members.
makes the winning feel so much better ❤️❤️❤️ no cap haha 😂 https://t.co/3STNJYhNUo
— Jordan Clarkson (@JordanClarksons) May 19, 2021
“You’re lying,” one scholarship winner says to Ingles during her video call.
“No, I promise you,” Ingles responded. “I would never lie to you.”
The program is the first of its kind by an NBA team to award scholarships to students based on the team’s performance throughout the season.
The Jazz have at least 25 more scholarships to award this season in addition to their victories in the postseason which begins on Sunday.
