SALT LAKE CITY — The path to higher education looks different for everyone. Wil Thomas went to high school at Timpanogos High, where he played baseball, and Janet Lopez was a Student Body Officer at Taylorsville High, but both knew higher education was a step they wanted to take.
"It was kind of something that was always pushed on me from my mom since I was young," Lopez said.
“The way I see education is it is something that will help me get further," Thomas affirmed.
As high school upperclassmen, both were thinking about the stress and pressures that come with college -- including the financial stress. Then they heard about the Utah Jazz Scholarship Program.
The program provided a four-year full cost of attendance scholarship to 114 Utah high school students -- one for every Jazz win from the 2020/21 and 2021/22 NBA seasons. 100% of the recipients are from an underrepresented group.
Wil applied as the class of 2021, Janet as the class of 2022 -- at first, they didn't know their chances, then they were called for a second interview. "The screen goes on in the locker-room and we're just watching the video, and then Donovan Mitchell was the one that said, 'Congratulations, all of you guys have gotten the Utah Jazz scholarship,' and tears just started coming out of my eyes," Lopez remembered.
“I was really nervous about that second interview, then I got a FaceTime from Royce O'Neal, and then he told me I actually got the scholarship," Thomas recalled.
Thomas is now finishing up his senior year at Utah Valley University, and Janet is a junior at the University of Utah.
"You're starting this chain of like future students, future cousins, family members, friends that are going to want to pursue college because you're in that position and they know it's possible," Lopez said.
The financial aspect of the scholarship has been life-changing, but so has the additional mentorship, support, and networking the Jazz organization has provided. “The amount of connections that I’ve made is unbelievable, and I don’t think I would have made them without the scholarship," Thomas said.
Of course, there are also some fun perks of being a Jazz scholar -- like going to the games. "I remember the first time they gave us dinner and everything like that, my dad was like a little kid, like woah this is so cool," Lopez said.
Two Utah Jazz scholars have already graduated, 15 are part of the class of 2025, 40 are expected to graduate next year, and 50 in 2027 and beyond.
Wil and Janet's stories are just two examples of what happens when hard work meets incredible opportunity. "If it's going to happen it's going to happen, but also it doesn't just happen by itself you have to put in the work and effort to actually get it to happen," Lopez said.
