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Green Bay’s half-court sharpshooter finally gets his full ride

You remember Eric Valentin, right? The Green Bay guard who hits half-court shots like Dwight Howard dunks? The walk-on had trouble finishing suicides during the team’s first conditioning sessions Tuesday because his summer job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture robbed him of available time.

So coach Brian Wardle gave him a fake lecture about being “dedicated to the program, not worried about money and getting yourself in shape.”

And why? Because Valentin’s no longer a walk-on.

When Wardle announced the news (you can watch it here) of Valentin’s new scholarship, it was something the 5-foot-4 senior never saw coming.

“Honestly, he got me pretty good,” Valentin told Jeff Eisenberg. “I actually didn’t know what was coming. Then he handed me a piece of paper, I saw ‘grant in aid’ at the top and I knew it was a scholarship. I saw a bunch of money fly back into my pocket, all the money I spent on tuition and books. That was a great feeling.”

There’s more in that Eisenberg story about Valentin’s history, how he loved hoops but couldn’t attract much interest because of his height and how he eventually landed at Green Bay. But mostly, it’s reminder that anything’s possible.

Guess we shouldn’t be too surprised, though. The guy did sink 8 of 19 half-courters.

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