Last week, Northwestern men’s basketball coach Chris Collins awarded senior walk-on James Montgomery a full scholarship. It was a moment you wish a video camera would have captured so it could be uploaded on YouTube.
Tuesday, Northwestern’s Sports Department did just that.
The video of the touching moment has more than 220,000 views as of Wednesday morning. Shortly after receiving the news in front of his teammates, Montgomery retreats to another room to let his mom and sister know.
They were obviously overjoyed.
As a senior at Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, Calif., Montgomery had Div. 1 scholarship offers. He chose to attend Northwestern because of its reputation for academics.
Montgomery didn’t play his freshman year, but was tapped as a practice player for Northwestern’s women’s team. He landed a walk-on spot for both his sophomore and junior seasons.
His patience and commitment to the program has finally paid off. He can also add a viral video to his ever-expanding résumé.
Follow theGrio.com’s Sports Editor Todd Johnson on Twitter @rantoddj