Calipari pays tuition for two
October 28, 2014
By Anne Halliwell
Biosystems senior Catherine Wolf and integrated strategic communications freshman Phillip “Hank” Curtis were selected to receive about $5,000 in scholarship aid for the price of a student ticket to a basketball scrimmage.
UK announced Monday morning that men’s basketball coach John Calipari would again pay in-state spring semester tuition for two randomly selected students who attended Monday night’s Blue—White Scrimmage.
“Actually, I wasn’t even a basketball fan before I came to UK,” Wolf said. “Then once I got here I realized that basketball is a little bit of a big deal … then I started going to games, watching on TV. Actually, the first UK game I watched Anthony Davis throw it down pretty hard and immediately fell in love.”
The selected students had to both buy tickets for the scrimmage and be present in Rupp Arena to be awarded the scholarships, according to a campus-wide email from UK administration.
“I actually quit baseball to come here,” Curtis said at the scrimmage. “The way this all worked out was pretty cool, so I just want to thank Coach Cal for the opportunity, it’s pretty cool.”
In-state tuition for one semester of the 2014-2015 academic year equals $5,232, according to the registrar’s webpage. Last year, it was $4,983.
The scholarships were funded by proceeds from Calipari’s Coaches’ Clinic, a day-long workshop for basketball coaches that focuses on the strategies Calipari uses in the UK basketball program.
In 2013, a record 15,035 people attended the scrimmage after students heard about the scholarship.
Five-dollar upper level seats and ten-dollar lower level seats became available on Sept. 29. There were still tickets available Monday morning.
Calipari began the tradition of awarding spring semester tuition to Blue—White Scrimmage attendees last year, the email read. The tradition is a carryover from his time at University of Massachusetts.
Amanda Dowell, then a biology freshman, and Josh Lawson, a mechanical engineering senior at the time, were selected for the 2013-2014 scholarships.
The in-state tuition applied to out-of-state and graduate students as well, the email read.
“The more games I go to, the deeper I fall in love with (basketball),” Wolf said. “It’s such an awesome sport and the best tradition.”