AMHERST — The rules were rather simple to Noah Lee, who stepped onto Jack Leaman Court inside the Mullins Center at halftime of Wednesday night’s women’s basketball game between the host Minutewomen and St. Bonaventure. Make four baskets – a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot – and he’d be $10,000 richer.

And in an incredible display of basketball skill, Lee drained all four shots consecutively, calmly strutting to get his rebound in between swishes. Lee, a senior at UMass, whipped the ball into the air, ecstatic he had just earned a big pay day.

His excitement was ripped away the following day, when Lee received an email from a UMass athletics representative stating the promotion company who sponsored the event, Odds On Promotions, wouldn’t be dishing out the 10K because his foot was on the half-court line. That same UMass representative told Lee after he made the shot that the company does take being behind the line very serious, and that they’d review the footage before getting back to him.

Thus, he received the disheartening news on Thursday via email.

The news went viral, spreading across all platforms of social media from Instagram, to TikTok to X. The video of Lee’s improbable accomplishment reached tens of millions of views, and outlets like Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Barstool Sports took to their accounts to share that Lee wasn’t going to receive the money.

UMass Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford had other plans.

Bamford took to X on Friday morning, saying that Lee would indeed be getting his $10,000 after all, whether Odds On Promotions was to fork it over or not.

“For all those wondering, we’re working on getting $10K to Noah. If we can’t get to a good result via the insurance company, we will pay him directly. We appreciate his support of [UMass athletics] and want to reward his fun accomplishment the other night at our [UMass women’s basketball] game.”

For all those wondering, we’re working on getting $10K to Noah. If we can’t get to a good result via the insurance company, we will pay him directly. We appreciate his support of @UMassAthletics & want to reward his fun accomplishment the other night at our @UMassWBB game. 🚩

— Ryan Bamford (@UMassADBamford) February 7, 2025

Even Minutemen men’s basketball coach Frank Martin posted in support of Lee, asking him to reach out via direct message on X to work out an arrangement.

Once Lee got word that Odds On Promotions disqualified his half-court heave due to his foot being over the line, the UMass athletics department originally offered him several packages to try to soften the blow. They offered Lee tickets for a four-person loge suite at a men’s hoop game, another chance at money via a similar shooting contest at halftime of that game, courtside tickets to a women’s hoop game, $100 in gift cards for Mullins Center concessions and a “swag bag” with UMass gear.

A nice gesture, but certainly not $10,000.

Then came Friday, when UMass released a statement saying the athletics department would give Lee what he really wanted. Not tickets to games, not free food or beer or any merchandise, but the money for his accomplishment. As it turns out, he may have gotten both.

“We appreciate Noah taking part in the series shootout promotion at our recent women's basketball game and applaud his efforts,” the statement read. “After the contest, we informed Noah we would share the footage with our insurance partner as the next step. After their review of the four camera angles we provided, they determined the half-court shot was disqualified as it was not taken behind the half-court line. We weren't satisfied with that outcome and arrived at the decision to provide Noah with both a $10,000 award and a host of other UMass athletics benefits.”