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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Bradley Kept Scholarship; Drummond a Walk-On


Turns out, Michael Bradley didn't give up his scholarship to Andre Drummond, after all.

While it was widely reported that Bradley had offered Drummond his scholarship back in September, shortly after Drummond had announced he commitment to UConn, in fact the two sides were working to find a different solution.

Drummond and his family wound up taking out a bank loan to pay for his tuition this year, and Bradley kept his scholarship. That makes Drummond perhaps the most heralded walk-on in recent college basketball history.

As a recruited athlete, Drummond could not receive any institutional aid from UConn. But with the sizeable insurance policy he has taken out as a potential NBA lottery pick, coupled with the fact that the Middletown resident will be paying in-state tuition, it ends up not being as much of a financial burden on Drummond as it would on Bradley, a Tennessee resident.

The estimated in-state tuition at UConn is about $21,720, according to the school’s website. For out-of-state students, it's nearly $39,000.

The decision for Drummond to pay his own way was made back in late-October or early-November, according to UConn men’s basketball SID Kyle Muncy. At that point, it was up to Drummond to have the comfort level to let other people know.

Drummond told the news to Gavin Keefe of the New London Day on Tuesday after practice.

Bradley spent much of his childhood in the Tennessee Baptist Children’s Home, a sort of foster home, and UConn coach Jim Calhoun was widely criticized by the media (myself included) when it was reported back in September that Bradley would be giving up his scholarship to Drummond.

All parties -- Drummond, Bradley and Calhoun -- never negated the story, though obviously there was more to it all along.

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