On Monday, Oct. 24, two ETSU students won free tuition for a semester during “Bluenanza” in Brooks gym, an event presented by Johnson City Honda.

Bluenanza gives fans a chance to see the men and women’s basketball teams skills, hear the season expectations from head coaches Brittney Ezell and Steve Forbes, and also win prizes.

The two grand prizes in particular seemed unbelievable.

The last prize given out was free tuition for a student who made a half court shot. Students were chosen, and they got a chance to score the long distance goal. Neither student could make it, so the students were given the option to choose a player from either team to take the shot for them.

Senior T.J. Cromer and junior Devontavius Payne, two players on the ETSU team, were chosen to shoot for them.

“He’s about to go to school for free,” said Payne before going up to the line.

Payne launched the ball from half court and got the shot to fall, giving the first student tuition. Cromer followed with a half court shot of his own, winning the other student free tuition as well. Fans rushed the court.

Jeremiah Pearson, one of the winning students, said he was in shock and feels blessed to have that part of his school fees paid for.

“I didn’t think they also would give me a second chance.” Pearson said. “There has been so much going on that it really made me feel good. TJ made the shot and I thank him for that. I felt like I won a basketball game.”

Author

  • Garrett Tumlin

    Garrett Tumlin is a senior majoring in journalism with a minor in sports management. He is vice president of ETSU’s Black Affairs Association and a leader for Quest. He is also a member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. A Chattanooga native, Tumlin has always loved writing and sports and is excited to be an athletics writer for the East Tennessean. He also works for BucTV. More recently, Tumlin has started working at the Herald & Tribune in Jonesborough. He loves basketball and his favorite NBA team is the Celtics.

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