A UNC sophomore made the most out of his 2nd appearance on the iconic trivia show Jeopardy, coming from behind to win on Tuesday’s episode.
As reported by ABC11, Rotimi Kukoyi was invited back to the show for its “Second Chance Tournament.” He first appeared on the show nearly six years ago, when he competed as a ninth-grader during the Teen Tournament.
Now, Kokoyi is a Morehead-Cain Scholar at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he majors in health policy and management. He also has a double minor in biology and chemistry, with plans to become a physician.
His return to the show was a long time coming: He was originally scheduled to participate in last year’s “High School Reunion Tournament.” However, he had to drop out because he tested positive for COVID-19. The show’s producers promised him, “We’ll have you back for something later.”
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When he finally made it back to the show, Kokoyi kept in mind some valuable lessons from his 1st appearance… including not being too quick with the buzzer.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but there’s a staff member on the side who unlocks the buzzer for every clue by hitting a button. These lights on the side of the clue board flash, and that’s when the buzzer’s enabled,” he said in an UNC press release. “If you buzz in too early, you’re locked out of ringing for a quarter of a second, which makes a huge difference as it all comes down to milliseconds.”
With Kokoyi’s victory (which you can watch in the video above), he now advances to a two-day final. The winner of the “Second Chance Tournament” will win a spot in the “Champions Wildcard” event for a place in Jeopardy’s upcoming “Tournament of Champions.”
