By Catherine Laroche

There are not many students in the world that can brag about getting into one of England’s two prestigious colleges. However, on Jan. 28, University of Louisville senior guard Will Scott was one of only 15 people across the world to get accepted into Oxford University to study Chinese.
“It feels great,” Scott said. “I’m really excited. I called my parents and my little sister, and they’re obviously very excited for me. It’s very special and today was a great day.”
Although Scott is celebrating now, it wasn’t all cheers and smiles the last few months.  Scott started his application in November. The application consisted of 10 pages, five letters of recommendations and a 15-page paper. After completing the application, Scott just waited nervously for a response from Oxford University.
“I really thought it was going to be a coin-flip,” Scott said. “I had been waiting for about four months but luckily it came through. The payoff is tremendous.”
Scott has already received a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in Chinese from U of L. At the end of the summer, Scott will also have a master’s in business administration from U of L before he leaves for Oxford where he hopes to get a second master’s degree in Modern Chinese studies.
While that may seem impressive to some, Scott has also accomplished to earn his degrees with a cumulative 3.9 grade point average. U of L men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino said that he’s made all A’s and one B; which half of his A’s were A+’s. Many students would love to have those grades, but Scott still thinks about that one B.
“It was Dr. Sharp’s marketing class,” he said. “Coach makes it seem like I’m a big dork, but I’m not.
On top of earning his bachelors, working on his masters and maintaining such a high GPA. Scott still had to suit up for basketball practices and games.
“It takes a lot of time management,” Scott said. “Obviously, you don’t get as much free time as you like, but through the years I’ve done pretty well at knowing what work needs to be done and what work can wait.”
Scott’s hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed throughout his years at U of L. His teammates are very happy of his acceptance into Oxford.
“I don’t know much about Oxford, but I do know that Will spent so much time and worked so hard on his studies,” Edgar Sosa, junior point guard, said. “To get into that school it’s a big accomplishment. We see Will everyday and think nothing of it (getting accepted into such an exclusive school), but to the rest of the world he’s the real deal.”
Pitino has also noticed Scott’s hard work and dedication on and off the court.
“I think that’s tremendous,” Pitino said. “I’m real proud of Will. He’s been a delight to coach. He transferred from Cornell [University] because he wanted to be a part of big time basketball. He’s never had a bad day personality-wise and he’s always upbeat. Regardless of if he plays or not, it doesn’t matter [to him]. He’s been a shining light for our program for the time he’s been here.”
Scott is excited about going to England, and said that U of L is comparable to any school in the world and has prepared him for Oxford. His career goal is to be a diplomat in China.
“I go to Oxford for two years and the program is geared towards Chinese diplomacy. So if the American government and China go to war and you see me sent in there, then move to Canada,” Scott said jokingly.
Scott said he isn’t too sure about what to expect in England, but he did know a couple of things about the country.
“I’m assuming it will be different,” he said. “I know they drive on the wrong side of the road and they speak funny. They’ll probably think I’m a little weird. But I’m just pretty excited about the whole thing.”