There was a 6’6” sophomore forward scholarship player who suited up for his first game Thursday night when Denver topped South Dakota 111-110 in the double overtime classic. Not a basketball scholarship student-athlete mind you but an engineering scholarship student. He was spotted during pick-up basketball games last season at DU and was made a student manager this season. Denver petitioned the NCAA to allow Tolu Baba Ajayi (called ‘T’ by his teammates) to suit up as a regular roster player for Denver after the school holiday break, his first time in an official Crimson and Gold gameday uniform.

Tolu, an electrical engineering student, was witness to one of the most improbable wins in DU history. He played zero minutes in the game but his story is extraordinary. He ended up in Denver, a city he always wanted to visit, as his circuitous path took him from Cork, Ireland to Florida (Montverde Academy, Fl.). This season, he helped manage team practices. His classmates, engineers, came as a group to Thursday night’s game with photos of Tolu, flowers, and a banner supporting their friend and classmate. They chanted his name at warm-ups and at every break and posed with him for photos after the game.  They delighted in his transformation from student peer to Division I basketball player.

Tommy Bruner and Isaiah Addo-Ankrah may have been the stars on the floor but one of the biggest smiles belonged to Tolu, surrounded by his friends and classmates, after the game. His winding path brought him to this moment and this place.

And, who knows? Former DU basketball star Yemi Nicholson was a 6’11” music major (saxophone) who went on to become one of DU’s greatest basketball players and play in the pros. Oh, and Montverde Academy produced Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars. Tolu’s bio shows him to be a two-time high school MVP as well.

Tolu is just one of many NCAA walk-ons and student managers who toil out of the limelight, making their teams better. Thursday night, he had the best seat in the house wearing crimson and gold and earned his spot in the epic win.