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At first glance it appeared that UMass had done right by Noah Lee — giving him $10,000 for his feat after Odds On Promotions refused to cough up the loot — but then came the rest of the story.

At halftime of the women’s basketball game against St. Bonaventure on Feb. 5, the 21-year-old Wayland resident was called out of the stands and given 30 seconds to put in a layup, make a 2-pointer, a 3-pointer and drain a half-court shot for $10K.

Not only did he do it, he did it like Uncle Drew.

According to ESPN the chances that a backyard hoops player will hit a half-court bucket are 100-1. Maybe that’s why whoever supervised the contest didn’t bother telling him to stay behind the midcourt stripe. 

Anyone watching a video clip could plainly see that Lee’s feet were on the line. The next day Lee got an email from the school telling him he’d been disqualified. AP reported that UMass never even bothered to send the tape to Odds On.

“No formal claim or request for prize money was made by the University to Odds On in this matter,” said the company. “Odds On was not involved in the initial invalidation of the contest win and only became aware of the University’s decision not to pay the contestant through media coverage.”

The Boston Globe reported that UMass tried to weasel out of giving Lee the money. In lieu of the jackpot, it offered him four tickets to a UMass men’s game in a loge suite, two courtside tickets to a women’s game, $100 worth of food “and a bag of UMass gear.”

Wow, a grab bag of dirty socks and sweaty jock straps.

Lee’s roommate Josh Schreiber got on social media and took it to the people: “They say his foot was on the line DESPITE not being told BEFOREHAND that it had to be BEHIND the line.”

Aware that a nationwide tsunami of bad publicity was coming its way, UMass relented and told Lee it would “find a way” to get him his money. Nice move, but don’t expect any pats on the back.

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Amherst native Ryan Leonard got his comeuppance at the Mullins Center on Saturday. Leonard played schoolboy hockey at Pope Francis in Springfield and chose BC over UMass for its “history and culture.”

The slap in the face to team and town left players and fans fuming. “Leonard took a real beating,” texted UMass season ticket holder Terry Kennedy, who was at the game. “Most were legit hits… one tackle and one slashing and he was called for embellishment. Lots of boos and ‘F*** you Leonard.’”

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Anyone from Kansas can tell you that 12 sheaves of grain gathered upright together are called shocks. To honor the state’s crop, Wichita State’s nickname is the Shockers and its mascot WuShock is a bundle of wheat.

Up at Dartmouth-Hitchcock hospital in New Hampshire, a nurse and Shocker alum named Michelle said she wore a T-shirt that said “Fear the Wheat.”

“Not anymore,” she said. “Everybody thought it was about celiac disease.”

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In an article about Utah Hockey Club draft pick Michael Hrabal, Belle Frazier of the Salt Lake Tribune reported that Greg Carvel confronted his goalie in November about his poor save percentage and the soft goals he was giving up.

“I met with him and I just said, ‘Michael this is not good enough. I told him .920 is the bare minimum. You need to be shooting for .930, .935 save percentages.”

In 13 games since, Hrabal has allowed 29 goals on 446 shots, a .935 save percentage.

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Former UMass defenseman Mario Ferraro —now with the San Jose Sharks — was mentioned on a recent “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast. An unnamed rookie spoke of eating PB&J’s and sleeping on a bare mattress in a spartan apartment while fearing he’d be demoted to Milwaukee.

“Jumbo Joe Thornton helped me out with expenses. He’s like that with everybody. He makes you feel so welcome. Him and Mario Ferraro, those two together. They were insane together. Ferraro’s bouncing off the wall at all times. He looks like a character, he’s missing all his jibs.”

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SQUIBBERS: Alex Bregman, Walker Buehler and Bob Baffert’s wife Natalie Baffert own a racehorse sired by Triple Crown winner Justified. The 4-year-old colt named March of Time has earned $60,814 and finished third at 1-to-2 at Santa Anita on Jan. 31. … Litter, litter everywhere: When Joey Logano went into pit lane to figure out why his car wasn’t performing at the Daytona 500, they took the air box off and found a plastic bag choking the engine. … Greg Carvel could tie Toot Cahoon for most wins in program history by sweeping UNH this weekend. … UMass hockey recruit Justin Kerr has four goals, four assists and 55 penalty minutes in 17 games for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL. … Kerr’s teammate Kazimier Sobieski has six goals and 12 assists in 20 games since he left UMass at the coach’s request. … Deerfield Academy graduate Thomas Gale is a top-10 finalist for the Mike Richter Award at Holy Cross. Other nominees include Maine’s Albin Boija and BC’s Jacob Fowler. … Mike Francesa on Mets owner Steve Cohen: “The one thing that sticks in Cohen’s craw is that the Mets were 18th in attendance. That will change with Juan Soto.” … VCU beat UMass on Wednesday, 80-51. There will be a collective day of mourning in the A-10 when all those automatic wins leave for the MAC. …  A broadcast freelancer named Andrew Gardner filled in for Donnie Moorhouse on Saturday at the Mullins Center. Gardner might be the Lana Turner of sports broadcasting, his profile on LinkedIn includes “Ice cream scooper at Dr. Mike’s Ice Cream.” …  Forty-five years ago today in Lake Placid, a group of ragtag hockey players and their irascible coach conquered the mighty Soviets, 4-3. Did we believe in Miracles? Indeed we did.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com