University of Utah fan Charlie Caine claimed the school stiffed him out of a $5,000 prize for making a half-court shot on Friday night but the school later reached out to the 17-year-old to resolve the matter.
Caine made the promotional half-court shot during the second half of Utah’s home game against Eastern Washington on Friday. Making that half-court shot usually means a $5,000 prize. But Caine took to Twitter late Friday night to express that Utah wouldn’t pay him the money because he’s only 17 years old.
Caine contended that he deserved the money. He also questioned why Utah would even select him to shoot if he wasn’t eligible for the $5,000 prize. Lynn Worthy of the Salt Lake Tribune even mentioned Charlie’s shot (and the $5,000 prize) on Twitter while covering Friday’s game.
Here’s a video of the shot.
I made the half court for $5,000 but got aced out of it because it was “against policy” that I was 17 even though they still let me shoot it. Still stoked I made the shot but I would appreciate some money. @MountainAmerica @UtahMBB @MUSSemeritus pic.twitter.com/qw6xAL0Pgt
— Charles Caine (@ctcaine9) November 25, 2017
Former Utah walk-on guard Austin Eastman even joked that Charlie deserved the money because, “he’s made more shots in Huntsman than I did!!!”
Pay the kid his money 💰 he’s made more shots in the Huntsman than I did!!! https://t.co/09TP2ivOOA
— Austin Eastman (@AustinEastman15) November 25, 2017
Charlie is a dedicated Utah fan that the University even retweeted him as a 15-year-old repping the school from Centre Court at Wimbledon. For awhile, this didn’t look good for Utah.
Thankfully, this story found a happy ending. Caine spoke with Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill and it appears Caine will work something out with the school.
UPDATE: Utah Athletic Director Chris Hill called me to emphasize that the U wants this to work out for me. He and his department are working to resolve the issue and I will meet with them on Monday. https://t.co/7c4Yexhcva
— Charles Caine (@ctcaine9) November 25, 2017
Caine also acknowledged that Mountain America Credit Union was not a sponsor of the half-court promotion, which was previously stated in the original NBC Sports story. I apologize to Mountain America Credit Union for including them in the original version.
CLARIFICATION: I spoke with @MountainAmerica this morning and confirmed they were NOT the sponsor of the half-court shot promotion. The U reached out to me and I have a meeting scheduled with a member of the athletic department on Monday to figure it all out. Go Utes! https://t.co/7c4Yexhcva
— Charles Caine (@ctcaine9) November 25, 2017