Jazz Surprise Scholarship Winners In New Video
Apr 15, 2022, 3:20 PM
Utah Jazz guards Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz surprised several dozen college hopefuls with a scholarship in a new video released by the team.
In the video posted to social media, the scholarship applicants were shown inside the team’s lounge and locker room at Vivint Arena with recordings from several Jazz players discussing their applications.
As the students watched, Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, Jordan Clarkson, Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Royce O’Neale surprised the applicants by informing them that each of them had been chosen for the scholarship.
Playing for more 🖤
With 112 combined wins, the Utah Jazz are giving away 112, 4-year full-ride scholarships to students from underrepresented groups. The applicants were invited to Vivint Arena for the surprise reveal, take a look 🎥#UtahJazzScholarship | @10000degrees pic.twitter.com/YJYWI1JogZ
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 15, 2022
This season the Jazz awarded 51 scholarships, brining the two-year total to 112 to match the number of wins the team has accrued in each of the last two preseason and regular seasons.
Jazz owner Ryan Smith introduced the scholarships initiative in January of 2020, looking for a new way to tackle the educational needs of underrepresented students.
Last season the program resulted in 55 total scholarships between the team’s 52 regular-season wins and three preseason wins.
“It’s not only to give folks money who wouldn’t have had a chance,” Smith told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski when he first announced the program. “A lot of people don’t know how to get the process going of getting into college.”
🗣 Run it back!
We are extending the #jazzscholarship program for the 2021-22 season ❤️https://t.co/zeahIkvyKL pic.twitter.com/wPkTvd5Tct
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 20, 2021
After last season, the Jazz released a video with several of the team’s players calling students who had applied for the scholarships to tell them they had been chosen for the award.
The Jazz scholarships cover up to the full cost of attendance — including tuition, books, fees, and room and board — for each recipient’s undergraduate education at one of six universities in the state of Utah.
The program was the first of its kind in the United States to tie scholarships directly to the number of team wins last season.
The Jazz closed the 2021-22 season with a record of 49-33, fifth-best in the Western Conference.
