Halfcourt Shot Yields New Car For OKC Native

Oklahoma City – One of Oklahoma City native Roland Garrett’s two sons will turn 16 this year, making him an ideal recipient of the 2006 Ford Mustang GT his father won recently. Right, Dad?

“Actually neither of my sons are going to get the car,” said a smiling Mr. Garrett, who also has a son in college. “It’s going to be my toy.”

Garrett earned his sparkling new vehicle on December 28, when he wowed fans at the Ford Center by draining a shot from halfcourt in his only attempt.

Garrett, who was randomly selected to participate in the MidFirst Bank Halfcourt Shot promotion, is the only fan to connect this season.

Hornets owner George Shinn and Randy Roper of MidFirst Bank presented the Hornets’ season-ticket holder with his new car on Tuesday afternoon at the downtown Oklahoma City dealership.

“I found out that I would be (in the contest) about an hour before the game, so I knew I wasn’t going to get a chance to practice,” the Oklahoma City police officer explained. “I wanted to keep a positive image of what could happen. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when the ball went in the basket.” Despite his marksmanship from long distance, Garrett did not even play high school basketball, instead focusing on his primary sport, football. His only organized basketball experience has come in intramurals and recreation leagues.

“I tried out for basketball briefly one year, but I decided to go on to bigger and better things,” laughed Garrett.

Things like sinking a 50-foot shot in front of 19,000 fans – and winning a new car.