His path toward a full-ride scholarship may have been long, in his fifth year at Arizona, but judging from the reactions of his teammates after coach Tommy Lloyd delivered the news Thursday, it was worth it for Salpointe graduate Grant Weitman.
Weitman and former Missouri Western State forward Luke Champion were each awarded a scholarship by Lloyd after serving as valuable walk-ons.
They practice against Arizona’s rotation players and are generally the first ones off the bench late in games.
“You guys are studs,” Lloyd said of Weitman and Champion in a video posted on social media by the program. “We love you, and we’re giving you a full ride.”
Their teammates erupted in a cheer and hugged them in celebration.
“You guys are studs, we love you and we’re giving you a full ride” pic.twitter.com/4etCMWlPaA
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 11, 2025
Weitman, who played on Salpointe’s first state championship team in 2019-20, made his first collegiate start on Senior Day last year against Oregon and recorded a steal on the first possession of the game.
He played on Senior Day because it was uncertain at the time if he would return to Arizona.
Weitman, a 6-foot-4 and 205-pound guard, entered the transfer portal after last season in April to see what programs might be interested.
An Applied Humanities with an emphasis in Business Administration major, Weitman decided to re-enroll at Arizona as a walk-on in August.
Weitman grew up in a family that was close friends with Lute Olson and his family.
Weitman’s grandfather Paul Weitman, former owner of the Royal Automotive Group, was a close associate and friend of Olson and also a booster of the Wildcat program.
“It was always cool to go watch when I was little and to see the intensity (at McKale Center),” Weitman said in a 2020 interview with AllSportsTucson.com when he first announced he was walking on at Arizona. “I guess I wondered what it would be like to be a player if I had the chance. To me, those were all just my grandfather’s friends.”
Grant Weitman averaged nearly 16 points and five rebounds per game as a senior with the Lancers.
Champion, a 6-foot-8 and 205-pound forward, is in his third season with the program after transferring from Missouri Western State (a Division II program) after the 2020-21 season.
He is also majoring in Applied Humanities with an emphasis in Business Administration.
The full rides awarded to Grant Weitman and Champion fill Arizona’s allotment of 13 scholarships.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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