Ball State University Freshman Hits Half-Court Shot For One Semester of Free Tuition

School has started around the Tri-State and over the next couple of weeks, the colleges will be starting up as well. My daughter Emily started college last week and our son Baylor goes back to Hanover next week. College has become enormously expensive and graduates are leaving college with more debt than ever. It is important for incoming freshmen to apply for as many scholarships as possible and student loans are almost a certainty after mom and dad make their contribution. Full-ride scholarships are few and far between.

Ball State University, located in Muncie, IN has been offering free tuition for one semester for one randomly selected freshman at orientation for the last several years. The selected student gets a chance to make a shot from half court at the basketball arena, known as The Nest. It has never been done before.

Last Thursday, freshman Markus Burden was chosen for the shot, for which he received four chances from half-court. Burden missed the first three, but drilled the fourth and final attempt and won free tuition for one semester, which amounts to just over $11,000.

Markus immediately called his mother who thought he was lying until someone sent her a picture of proof...mom was thrilled as you can imagine. See Markus' shot below.