By Bill Koch
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A year after sinking the million-dollar half-court shot during halftime of the Crosstown Shootout, Theo Nelson is only $16,500 richer than he was before.

He still lives in the same Kennedy Heights house. There have been no exotic vacations, nor has he purchased an expensive new car.

Theo Nelson is surprised by the Xavier mascot at the Shootout party Wednesday. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

He did splurge on a $100 basketball hoop for the driveway, and he and his wife, Doris, donated some of the money to charity.

They invested the rest.

On the surface, Mr. Nelson's life hasn't changed much. He was a mortgage originator then and he's a mortgage originator now, though he works for Chase Manhattan Bank instead of Fifth Third. He switched jobs, he said, to make more money.

"It's not like we've got a million bucks in our pockets," Mr. Nelson said. "We've got to make our money stretch."

Mr. Nelson attempted the half-court shot as part of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout promotion that was conducted in conjunction with the annual basketball game between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.

He was selected by his then co-worker, Erin Bonilla, the actual contest winner, who believed that Mr. Nelson, a former Western Hills High School basketball player, had a better chance to make it than she did.

"If it had been a shopping contest, I would've had it nailed myself," she said.

Mr. Nelson didn't let her down.

After the shot went in, he spread his arms in celebration, then sprinted around the court and tackled the XU mascot.

He still believes, as he said immediately after the shot, that God directed the ball into the basket.

"God did what he had said he was going to do," Mr. Nelson said this week. "He spoke to me. He said, `Let it go and I'll put it in.'"

Said Ms. Bonilla: "More than the rush of the crowd, it was very quiet and peaceful. Like it was meant to be."

The Nelsons have three sons: T.J., 9; Jared, 6; and Joshua, 14 months. They plan to use a sizable portion of the money for college tuition and to help those in need.

A 50-50 split

The shot, Mr. Nelson said, changed his life in ways that aren't immediately recognizable.

"It has changed for the better," Mr. Nelson said. "I've been able to share that encounter with God.

"We were going through a whole lot in Cincinnati that year after the riots. That's why I was excited with Erin being white and me being black and we could come together and split the money without any lawyer."

The $1 million is being paid in the form of a $33,000 annual payment for 30 years. Mr. Nelson and Ms. Bonilla, who received the first check last January, agreed to split the cash 50-50.

Ms. Bonilla said she bought a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager and also started the Clint Dunn Scholarship Fund, named for a student who attended her church, the Western Hills Church of Christ. Clint died in an auto accident a few years back.

Her only other "whirlwind purchase" was a Thomas Kincaid painting.

Skyline is running the same promotion for this year's Crosstown Shootout, which will be played Saturday at UC's Shoemaker Center.

The only changes are that the game pieces are being distributed separately instead of being affixed to cups, and the insurance premium Skyline pays to cover the prize payments has increased from $23,000 to $30,000.

"Frankly, I'm not sure if we would have done the promotion again had the shot not gone in," said Tom Allen, Skyline's vice president for marketing. "We would have taken a hard look at it. It's tough to tell how much impact it had. Mostly it just generated good feelings."

So does the personable Mr. Nelson, who loves to talk about the shot. He freely does interviews, appears in Skyline radio and TV commercials and will be on hand at the Shoemaker Center on Saturday to draw the name of this year's contestant at halftime. He will then hand that person the ball for his or her own million-dollar shot. Three people are eligible for the drawing.

It's the elevation

He'll even offer a little advice if the contestant asks.

"It was really about elevation," Mr. Nelson said, "just getting that thing out there. From half court, the basket looks like it's right in front of you. You've really got to get some elevation on it and you've got to get some rhythm going. It's all about having some kind of routine and rhythm."

Mr. Nelson says he has checked the contest rules and believes that technically he would be eligible to take the shot again if this year's contestant were to ask him.

But Skyline officials needn't fear that happening. Last March, Mr. Nelson was playing basketball for his church team in a charity game. Someone nudged him while he was in the air pursuing a rebound, causing him to fall and shatter his left elbow.

"I just finished my last therapy session two weeks ago," Mr. Nelson said. "They had to put my elbow back together. I couldn't shoot a half-court shot to save my life right now."

Mr. Allen says he would love to see another winner.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," Mr. Allen said. "How awesome would that be?"

Mr. Nelson will be rooting for this year's participant, too, not just because of the money, but because he wants someone else to experience what he has during the past year.

"It's been a lot of fun," Mr. Nelson said. "I get people who still stop me and say, `Aren't you the guy who made the shot?' They shake my hand and give me a hug. It's been really exciting for a lot of people."