Texas A & M’s women’s associate head coach Tanica Jamison will be trading in the stopwatch for the television set of “Wheel of Fortune” as she takes the stage to compete on March 9. It’s only fitting that she found out about this unique opportunity at a swim meet.
“While attending the Charlotte Arena Pro Series I went the wrong direction looking for my morning coffee before prelims, and noticed the Wheel Mobile. I looked online and found the tryout days which were that Saturday and Sunday,” Jamison said.
She tried out on that Sunday in between prelims and finals and put her name and contact info in a basket. It’s not guaranteed you make it on the stage, but with the luck of the draw Jamison was called to the front. She was asked to do an interview and try to solve a puzzle.
“I think there were five people selected each tryout show. My name was called during the second round of shows, I went up on stage, was interviewed, I took a selfie with the crowd, and then guessed the puzzle,” Jamison said.
Once Jamison found out she advanced past the first tryout, she had to fly back to Charlotte for a second audition. She knew being personable and having a loud, clear voice were two things she could check off the list.
“Part of my interview I told everyone I had 30 kids. There was complete silence, then I told them what I did for a living and everyone was in on the joke. Everyone was being too serious,” she said.
Completing the puzzle came naturally for Jamison who spent much of her childhood playing different types of puzzles with her family.
“Growing up my two sisters and I would spend summers with my grandparents. My Nana was retired and loved doing puzzles, word searches, crosswords and loved watching Wheel of Fortune every night. That sparked a love for word games with my twin sister and we play word games against each other almost every day,” Jamison said.
Although she’s never had an experience like this before, some of her day-to-day tasks as a coach and knowing how to perform on a big stage as a former swimmer helped prepare her for this moment. During her time at the University of Texas, she was an 11-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion.
“I think being a coach of one of the top programs in the country has helped with being able to communicate well, be personable with recruits, coaches and my athletes. Being a swimmer, I had the honor to compete on some of the biggest stages. I was able to control my nerves and tried to perform my best,” she said.
With the support of her family and teammates, Jamison will have a lot of supporters tuning in to watch the show.
“This is something I never thought would ever happen in my lifetime so I am grateful for the experience. It was really great to have the support of my family and my team. They cannot wait to watch the show later this week,” Jamison said.
I missed this story earlier in the week and when I heard “Tanica Jamison” announced tonight I did a serious double take! The wheel was not especially kind to Tanica, but at least she walked away with some cash.
You Rock Tanica!! Can’t wait to watch!