Impact Of A Scholarship: Jamie Wu
Matt Levine, Maryland Media Relations
1/14/2021
For Jamie Wu, being a scholarship athlete at Maryland was everything he could have dreamed of, but it did not fully sink in until after his time in College Park.
“When I first got on campus, I was a 17-year-old kid out of high school and I really didn’t understand,” Wu said. “I got a scholarship that means I can play football, that’s what that means. It really wasn’t until later on when I realized I was really given a tremendous opportunity.”
The former Terps football standout grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, didn’t play sports until he got into middle school and football wasn’t his first love.
“I was always that big chubby kid in school and I was always too big to play football, plus I had a bit of an overprotective mother, who thought I’d get hurt,” Wu stated. “So, my first entree into sports were playing basketball and track and field. And I thought I would be the next Michael Jordan until I realized you had to jump really high to do that.”
Wu loved track and field and was a good shot putter, because of his size and strength. But, he was always pretty fast and athletic for a big kid and it wasn’t until his freshman year of high school that he started to utilize his size on the football field.
He didn’t play a snap of varsity football until the end of the season in his sophomore year of high school at St. Charles in Illinois, but nonetheless the coaches were enthralled by Wu’s size and strength at such a young age. He started getting recruited because scouts came to watch his teammates.
“Thankfully I had a teammate in high school who wanted to play at Boston College, so we had a lot of college scouts come by and noticed I was a big kid, strong and somewhat athletic,” Wu said. “I started to get some exposure and was fortunate enough to attract some big schools, including Maryland.”
For 20 years, since I graduated, I’ve donated to the Terrapin Club because I realized there’s no way I could ever repay everything I received, but I’m going to try.Jamie Wu
The first time he ever entered the state of Maryland was for his recruiting visit, and it turned out to be a memorable one. In late January of 1995, Wu went to a Maryland basketball game against Duke at Cole Field House when future No. 1 draft pick Joe Smith blocked a shot towards the end of the game to seal the 74-72 win for Maryland.
“The entire place went electric,” Wu said. “I was thinking this is incredible, what a great college experience.”
He committed to play football for the Terrapins that day, a decision that would change his life forever.
Wu redshirted his freshman season and then played on the defensive line in his first season on the field before transitioning to the offensive line where he saw his success flourish.
He started the final 22 games of his career at Maryland on the offensive line and helped make the Terps’ rushing game one of the most improved in the country in 1998. In 1999, he was a senior co-captain, who guided Maryland’s 12th-ranked rushing offense and helped hold opposing defenses to just 11 total sacks that season.
He earned Second Team All-ACC Honors and was the recipient of the Iron Man Award, Maryland’s lineman of the year award, all while earning the Cook Memorial Award as the senior with the highest GPA.
Wu’s success as a Terp on the field led to a brief stint in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons, but it’s what his scholarship did for him off the field that he realizes today made the greatest impact.
Spending time with his teammates in the locker room, on road trips, in the dorms and elsewhere were among some of his favorite memories of his time in College Park.
“I remember the good times were ones that I shared with my teammates,” Wu said. “We had a big win when I was a freshman, we beat West Virginia in Byrd [Stadium] on a Thursday night for us to go 4-0. I came in as a true freshman hoping to make a difference and all of a sudden the team started out 4-0 and we were ranked in the AP Top 25. We felt on top of the world, it was just a great feeling that we were there to share the experience.”
Wu even met his wife, Christy, in college. After the Terps defeated Tennessee, 30-3, in the Peach Bowl in 2002, they got engaged.
“We’ve definitely taken and embraced the University of Maryland and we definitely enjoyed our time there,” he said.
But, to be on scholarship at Maryland was something Wu still owes so much for today.
“[Being on scholarship] was everything a college athlete takes for granted,” Wu said.
Wu’s full student-athlete experience was funded by Terrapin Club members, including tuition, books, and housing.
“Athletic departments across the country struggle financially, and Maryland was generous enough to say we were worthy of a scholarship,” he said. “We looked at it as these are the nice things and I think when you’re in college, you take them for granted.”
Wu hopes student-athletes begin to pay more attention to where their scholarships come from because he believes the Terrapin Club works hard to raise the funds for these scholarships.
He also spent time on the track and field team at Maryland. Wu saw a different perspective as a member of the track program.
“That really opened my eyes,” said Wu. “Seeing that I was fortunate enough to get a full scholarship like I did, playing football. It made me work hard because I knew there were kids that just weren’t as fortunate as I was.”
I remember the good times were ones that I shared with my teammates. We had a big win when I was a freshman, we beat West Virginia in Byrd [Stadium] on a Thursday night for us to go 4-0. I came in as a true freshman hoping to make a difference and all of a sudden the team started out 4-0 and we were ranked in the AP Top 25. We felt on top of the world, it was just a great feeling that we were there to share the experience.Jamie Wu
After college, Wu continued to see the benefits his scholarship provided him, beyond the opportunity to play the game he loved.
“A lot of my classmates were working part time jobs, their parents were paying for them or they took out student loans and had to pay that back afterwards,” Wu said. “I was very fortunate to leave College Park with not only a great experience playing sports and making friends that I’ll have the rest of my life, but also not having the debt coming out of college that way too many kids have.”
He realized the donors at Maryland helped provide him with this opportunity and it is something he takes to heart.
“For 20 years, since I graduated, I’ve donated to the Terrapin Club because I realized there’s no way I could ever repay everything I received, but I’m going to try,” Wu said.
