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Kentucky Gives Scholarship to Four Foot Tall Student

B-Dub Written by B-Dub, Friday May 28 2010
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Zachary Lipson is many things, but a quitter is not one of them.  Lipson will be enrolling at the University of Kentucky in the fall and has received a scholarship to be one of the student-managers for the basketball team.  That's nothing special you say?  Did I mention that Lipson has never played a minute of organized basketball and was born with a spinal deformity?
 
In spite of all the obstacles in his life Zachary Lipson never gave up on his dream of attending Kentucky and being the student-manager for the basketball team.  He was born eight weeks premature and weighed less than 2 pounds.  He has undergone over 30 surgeries in his life, but he wouldn't let that stop him.  And if you think that's not bad enough, Zachary has a twin brother who is completely healthy.  Still, he is an inspiration to everyone he meets. 
 
"Whenever you have a goal in life, there are always going to be some obstacles that try to stop you.  There will be people who try to tell you, 'no, you can't do it.'  But you can't let it beat you down, " Lipson said.
 
At only four feet tall, Lipson never played organized sports because of his health problems.  But he found his place in sports when he became the student-manager for the football team at Christ Presbyterian Academy, the Nashville school he attends.  He did so well that he also became the student-manager for the basketball and soccer teams.
 
It was working for the basketball team that Zachary realized what his dream was.  The school's basketball coach is former Vanderbilt basketball player, Drew Maddux.  Maddux liked Zachary so much, he labeled Lipson a "student assistant coach".  Not only did Lipson perform his normal duties of collecting equipment and fetching water, he also did some advanced scouting with Maddux and gave locker-room speeches. 
 
Lipson loved his job so much he wanted to continue it at what he considered to be the biggest stage of all, the University of Kentucky.  He was a good student, but he didn't quite have the grades to get into Kentucky.  So using the same attitude that he used to overcome his physical limitations, he overcame his academic limitations.  He worked hard to improve his grades and took countless hours of ACT prep courses until he qualified academically at Kentucky.  Then an incredible chain of events gave him the opportunity to realize his dream.
 
After the 2008-09 season, Kentucky fired basketball coach Billy Gillispie and hired John Calipari, who in turn hired Martin Newton as the school's director of basketball operations.  Maddux's father, Ray, and Newton's father, former Vanderbilt basketball coach and Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton, were friends.  And Martin Newton previously worked for Nike with Tim Thompson, who is Maddux's best friend.
 
All of that allowed Maddux to use his connections to get Lipson an opportunity to work at Kentucky's basketball camps last summer.  Then it was all up to Lipson to make an impression.
 
Apparently Zachary did make an impression because he was offered a scholarship to be a student-manager for the basketball team.  "The combination of the type of person Zachary is, the things he's overcome and his passion for Kentucky made it a really easy choice," Newton said of picking Lispon as one of the team's student-managers over at least 50 other candidates.
 
Lipson is excited to perform his duties as a student-manager, but he thinks he can offer so much more.  "The biggest thing I'm looking forward to is working with people," he said.  "I feel like I'm going to be a big impact on their lives.  I'm going to influence the way they think and look at things.  I can show someone a positive influence."
 
In recent years, college basketball has become more of a quick rest stop for spoiled rotten future NBA players.  Maybe Zachary Lipson really can become an inspiration.  He's already been an inspiration to everyone he's come in contact with in his 19 years, so why would his time at Kentucky be any different? 
 
I wonder if Coach Cal will even let him give a pep talk to the team sometime?  I, for one, would like to hear that speech.

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