Freshman Grayson Akerly (Coppell, Texas) sunk the AT&T Yellow Pages “Long Distance Shot” during the Belmont Bruins home basketball game on Feb. 19, 2011, winning a semester’s worth of tuition for his half-court basket.
“At first I sent my parents a text saying that I had won, and when I called them they said they wouldn’t have believed me if I didn’t include a picture of me and Dr. Fisher holding the giant check,” said the Audio Engineering Technology major. “They’re still excited even days after. They’ve been telling everyone, even people I don’t know about it. It’s honestly a real blessing because it’s released a huge part of the financial burden that comes with paying for college.”
The AT&T Yellow Pages “Long Distance Shot” took place at each home basketball game this season. As students entered the Curb Event Center, they signed up to be selected as contestants for in-game promotions, one of which was the Long Distance Shot. Belmont Athletics randomly selected students from the entries received each game. All previous contestants were invited back for one last attempt at the final home men’s basketball game on Saturday, since there had not been a winner during the season.
