However, one Cardinal basketball alum and one former basketball manager teamed up off the court to find a creative way to bring sports fans together and give back during the pandemic.

Akoy Agau (’19) and his friend and former UofL men’s basketball manager, Matthew Melander (’18), turned their friendship into a partnership with the creation of Their efforts have been featured on ESPN and WHAS 11.

Primetime Sports uses live-streaming service Twitch to stream athletes and celebrities playing video games while allowing fans to pay to interact with them. The company and players split that money, with some of Primetime’s share being donated to charity.

“We always wanted to do something with athletes, connect athletes with fans in a unique way,” Melander told . “We were trying to think of a new way for fans to interact with their favorite athletes. And video games, the platform is becoming more and more popular. A lot of guys that played video games in college, they continue to play that during their professional careers. The live aspect, as opposed to a recorded podcast, is a fun way to interact with their favorite athletes.”

With the pandemic limiting in-person sports activities, Agau and Melander saw an opportunity to also make a difference for fans of the NCAA Tournament.

“We thought this would be the perfect time to capitalize on and kind of start networking on that,” Agau told .

So, they held a virtual NCAA Tournament. But unlike other virtual tournaments that used computer projections and algorithms to pick a winner, this tournament actually let the players play. Forty of 68 teams who were projected to play in the real NCAA Tournament participated, with NBA-bound stars or departing seniors leading their squads from their video game controllers. Agau and Melander tailored the rosters to reflect reality, including player ratings, a tournament court and even school logos and uniforms. The bracket was divided by users playing on PlayStation and Xbox, and the competition began on July 15. Now in the Final Four, Kentucky, Rutgers, Illinois and Michigan State will compete for the (virtual) winning title this weekend.

The former Cardinals saw the virtual tournament as a way to try to make up for the sudden end to the sports season and these former players’ college careers.

“Guys getting to miss out on that is really sad,” Agau said. “If I would have missed out on it, having been there before, I definitely would have been devastated. We just kind of wanted to provide an experience that can some somehow bring that same excitement.”

“What better way to get involved than to do something to give back to these guys that had something taken away from them, that they work so hard for and also to be able to give back to some different charities that will need the money currently,” Melander said.

Half of the money raised from the tournament was donated to two charities: Direct Relief and Save the Children. Agau and Melander hope to grow their company and continue giving back through their virtual games.

“We would love to make this an annual thing. It’s a unique thing to do,” Agau said. “A lot of those guys do play video games. So this is a good way to help raise money, get money in their pocket, people can tune in and watch and support their guy. A last hurrah to support one of their guys.”

Phillip��M.��Bailey��(’07)����as in disbelief when his former coworker texted him those words last May. He had to check the official��Twitter account for Pulitzer Prizes to prove��to himself��it was true.����

And it was.����

In May, the Courier Journal��received��the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for its��investigative��reporting��of more than 600 pardons and commutations that former Kentucky Governor��Matt Bevin issued during his final weeks in office.��Bailey worked on two of the stories that led to the Pulitzer, often cited as the highest achievement in journalism.

“To know that your individual work��contributed��to that win is an incredible feeling,” Bailey said. “Even��just��being a Pulitzer nominee is incredible, so it is truly an honor to be in this club of people, from Ida B. Wells to Kendrick Lamar.”����

Bailey��launched��his journalism career��at UofL,��writing op-eds for The Cardinal,��the university’s��student newspaper, as well as an��independent black student newspaper��on campus.��He was a��political��science major, Pan-African Studies minor,��McConnell Scholar,��Porter Scholar��and a self-described “rabble-rouser”��during his time��on campus.����

“UofL was my training ground for��coalition��politics and life,” Bailey said. “There were people from all walks of life and all��kinds of different��backgrounds��there. So,��I learned how to��come together and��make decisions when there were those who don’t always agree, whether it was through student government, writing op-eds, philanthropic work��or��protests.”��

Bailey remembers meeting��other��students who came to��UofL and noted the importance of��a diverse campus.��������

“You’re going to have to know how to deal with people who aren’t exactly like you��in life. Whether��you meet someone who is gender non-binary or a Christian conservative, it is so important for everyone to have encounters with different people, especially in a country as increasingly diverse as ours,” Bailey said. “UofL is��in��the major metropolitan city in the state, so you get that��diversity��there.��

“I also learned how important it is to give voices to all groups of��people,��so everyone’s best interests are represented, like having the student government president on the board of��trustees. That’s����hat UofL taught me.”����

Bailey, a��comic book fan,��sees a link between superheroes and journalists, which drives his passion��for��his career.��

“There are two ways��heroes define themselves and I think journalists do,��too. There’s the superman mantra –��to��protect the innocent��–��and��the Batman mantra –��to��punish the guilty,” Bailey said. “Journalism is the place where regular people are able to challenge those in power and hold institutions accountable in order to protect the innocent and punish��the��guilty.”��

Bailey��recently��began a new job as a national correspondent��for USA Today.��He’ll still be based in Louisville, but will be covering issues across the country. He’s grateful to be staying in the city that has so far helped him establish a successful career.��

“I’m proudest because I haven’t had to leave��Louisville. If you’re talented and do the work, the bag will come to you,” Bailey said.��“I don’t need to live in the suburbs or move to Atlanta or New York. You can be excellent right��here.”��