Tresh Wins Hawks Hoops Contest
The Weber High School graduate won $20,000 after sinking a halfcourt shot.
When Jack Tresh stepped onto the court, during the Atlanta Hawks game against the Boston Celtics on March 28, he was ready for his half-court shot.
“I took away the notion of make or miss from my head and was just focused on the mechanics,” said Tresh, looking back on the moment. The 23-year-old Georgia State student had taken a long road to take to get there.
Tresh first got into basketball as a sophomore at Weber, joining a BBYO team. His experience with the sport soon evolved into his primary passion, to the point of going to school for sports media, and even starting a YouTube channel/podcast called “Hawksology” about his favorite team.
But to get a chance at that mid-game, half-court shot, Tresh would first have to compete against approximately 100 other Hawks season ticket members. In preparation for this, he and a friend spent hours at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta gym practicing the shot.
“For the first 45 minutes of that practice the day before, I couldn’t get it there,” Tresh said. “Meanwhile my friend, Mikey, is hitting rim, center every time.”
However, at the actual competition, Tresh was one of the only competitors to make the shot.
On March 28, the day of the game, he took the shot again. The ball grazed the front rim, then bounced off the back rim and into the net. His rather cool reaction failed to portray the rush of emotions of making the shot and winning $10,000 and a trip to Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Resort. Eventually, he sat back down, and watched the Hawks narrowly beat the Celtics.
But that wasn’t the end of the surprises left in store for Tresh. The day after the game, he was getting ready to play pickup basketball.
“I’m doing my mobility and stretch routine before I play,” said Tresh, “and all of the sudden my phone is buzzing more than it was after I had hit the shot last night.”
Dejounte Murray, who’d hit the game-winning shot the night before, had quote-tweeted the video of Tresh’s shot, and wrote, “I Need This Guy INFO. I Got Another $10k For Him!!!!”
The two got in contact, and Tresh was suddenly faced with the decision of what to do with $20,000. When asked, he noted that while he’s thinking about investing some of it, and perhaps spending a little on himself, he also wants to donate a large chunk of it to charity.
“Dejounte paid it forward to me,” Tresh said, “I want to continue that.”
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