A third-grade teacher in a D.C. schoolyard hit a bucket from the length of the court, meaning all the students would get hot chocolate, and pandemonium ensued.
That teacher had a shooting form that looked like it was not her first time picking up a basketball. In fact, it was Kathleen Fitzpatrick, who played collegiately for Rutgers.
Kathleen Fitzpatrick Getty Images“We knew that follow-through looked familiar,” tweeted the Rutgers women’s basketball account.
Fitzpatrick, who goes by Ms. Fitz, teaches at Holy Trinity in Washington D.C.
She played at Rutgers as a redshirt senior, having transferred from St. Joseph’s, and started 16 games for the Scarlet Knights in the 2017-18 season.
So, how did this viral moment all come about?
“I usually play basketball with the kids at recess, and I don’t really take it lightly,” Fitzpatrick said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” on Thursday. “I play as hard as I can. I just picked up a ball, and said — it was a Friday afternoon — that if I make this shot we’ll have hot chocolate on Monday as a class … I just launched it and it went in.”
“I was so excited to have a hot chocolate party myself,” she said. “It was the assist from the reindeer that really had me make my shot.”
