{"id":164106,"date":"2026-03-05T11:59:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=164106"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:54:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T21:54:47","slug":"three-wright-state-students-win-full-year-of-tuition-during-horizon-league-championship-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2026\/03\/05\/three-wright-state-students-win-full-year-of-tuition-during-horizon-league-championship-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Wright State students win full year of tuition during Horizon League Championship game"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Wright State University students received the surprise of a lifetime Wednesday night at the Nutter Center, each walking away with a full year of undergraduate tuition worth approximately $13,000.<\/p>\n

The students \u2014 Anna Cowley, a junior crime and justice major<\/a>; Lavell Lyles, a sophomore media studies major<\/a>; and Austin Smith, a finance major<\/a> \u2014 were randomly selected to participate in the Half-Court Shot Tuition Scholarship promotion at halftime of the Raiders\u2019 Horizon League tournament game against Cleveland State.<\/p>\n

None of the three made a half-court shot. But their night wasn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n

Wright State University President Sue Edwards stepped onto the court and surprised the students by giving each of them additional attempts from closer range.<\/p>\n

After several tries, every student sank a layup when they learned they had won a full year of tuition, sending the Nutter Center crowd into a frenzy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Lyles said. \u201cI\u2019m thankful for the opportunity, thankful to be a Raider.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Wright State students Austin Smith, second from left, Lavell Lyles, second from right, and Anna Cowley, far right, pose with Director of Athletics Joylynn Brown, far left, and President Sue Edwards, center, after winning a full year of tuition during the men\u2019s basketball game at the Nutter Center. (Video by Kris Sproles \/ photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Crowley said it was a surreal experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Wright State. I love the environment, the community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Additional prizes were awarded during Wednesday\u2019s game, including three iPads, a book scholarship, Wright State dining dollars and Raiders merchandise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis promotion is about more than the thrill of a half-court shot \u2014 it reflects Wright State\u2019s commitment to fostering a campus culture where students feel connected and engaged. When students feel like they belong, they stay, they succeed and they graduate on time,\u201d said Susan Schaurer, vice president for enrollment, marketing and career development.<\/p>\n

The scholarship promotion was held during the Raiders\u2019 90\u201361 win over Cleveland State<\/a> in the first round of the 2026 Horizon League Men\u2019s Basketball Championship.<\/p>\n

The top-seeded Raiders advanced to the semifinals on Monday, March 9, at 7 p.m. at Corteva Coliseum in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Sophomore Lavell Lyles reacts in disbelief after winning a full year of tuition during Wednesday’s men\u2019s basketball game.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Wright State students received a full year of undergraduate tuition during a special promotion at the men\u2019s basketball game in the Nutter Center. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":164117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[729,2798,2048,725,715,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-campus","category-athletics","category-enrollment-management","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164106"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164106\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":164138,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164106\/revisions\/164138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}