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After backlash, UMass will award student who lost half court shot contest on technicality
After making a half court shot, the viral moment got even more attention when Lee was told he would not be getting the prize money.
University of Massachusetts Amherst senior Noah Lee was randomly chosen to compete in a halftime challenge during a women’s basketball game on Wednesday night.
Lee had to make a lay up, a free throw, a three-pointer, and a half court shot to earn a $10,000 prize.
In a video taken by his childhood friend and roommate Josh Schreiber, Lee made the lay-up. He jogged a few steps farther, and made the free throw. Dribbled the basketball even farther and made the three-pointer. Only one more shot to win it all.
Lee made it to the half court line, gave himself a running start and launched the ball over 40 feet away.
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The business student made the final shot and an eruption of cheers followed.
MY FRIEND JUST DID THIS FOR $10k AT THE @UMassWBB GAME!!!#SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/czpu4jSNXf
— Josh Schreiber (@Jschreiber272) February 6, 2025
“[The] half-court shot, [I] put it up and realized mid-air, like ‘Wow, that has a chance,’” Lee told the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. “When it went in, it was pretty surreal … It was a ton of fun in the moment.”
The viral moment got even more attention when Lee was told he would not get the prize money.
A representative for UMass athletics approached Lee after the contest and informed him that the insurance company putting up the grand prize might not award him because Lee’s feet were on the line. The next morning, Lee received an email confirming he would not get the $10,000, Schreiber said in an interview.
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“At that point we were just very upset,” Schreiber said. “I decided to go to social media and post about it … that obviously blew up a lot.”
Schreiber shared part of the email on X, and the insurance company offered Lee a four-person loge suite to a men’s basketball game — with a similar challenge worth $1,000 — this season, court-side seats to another women’s basketball game, $100 in gift cards to the Mullins Center for concessions, and a swag bag.
After garnering media attention from Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and House of Highlights, some companies offered to award Lee the prize money themselves. The Massachusetts Collective offered Lee another half court shot challenge at the UMass Amherst men’s basketball game on Feb. 12. Pavement maintenance company Appell offered $10,000 with no strings attached, in an email sent to Boston.com.
Ryan Bamford, the director of athletics for UMass, wrote in an X post Friday that the department will award Lee the money if the insurance company does not grant it itself.
“He deserved it,” Schreiber said. “I wasn’t even sure that the whole contest was possible, that he could do all that rebounding for himself and hit all four of the shots like that in 30 seconds.”
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Overall, the media craze Lee caught himself in the middle of has been out of the ordinary for Lee, who considers himself an introvert, he told the Collegian.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m someone who loves the spotlight or really craves the spotlight by any means, but I’m definitely enjoying it,” Lee told the Collegian. “Like, opening up social media and seeing [myself] is a pretty crazy feeling, something I’ve never had before.”
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