BATON ROUGE, La. (BRProud) – LSU’s new President is trying to keep Scripps National Spelling Bee champ in the state.
On Saturday, Dr. William Tate offered Zaila Avant-garde a full scholarship Saturday to attend LSU.
The 14-year-old Harvey, La native is the first Black winner of the bee and only the second Black champion in the bee’s 96-year-history.
Zaila has described spelling as a side hobby, although she routinely practiced for seven hours a day. She is a basketball prodigy who hopes to play in the WNBA and holds three Guinness world records for dribbling multiple balls simultaneously.