Prank Goes Horribly Awry

A similar stunt was pulled at the University of Maryland last year, only in that instance the guy getting pranked missed the shot.

This guy makes it, hilarity ensues.

The prank was set up perfectly. A high school girls' basketball coach in Kansas was told he'd win tickets to the Final Four if he hit a half-court shot while blindfolded. The crowd was instructed to scream wildly when his attempt inevitably failed (because, really, that shot is nearly impossible) so the coach would think the shot went in. For an instant ,he'd think he was Final-Four-bound and then the joke would be revealed. There was just one problem, though: He made it.

The students at Olathe High School in Kansas may have picked the wrong foil for the joke. Joel Branstrom, the popular girls' basketball coach at the school, was a walk-on for the University of Kansas basketball team in 1997. Clearly he had the basketball chops to make such a prank risky, at best.

That Kansas team, by the way, was ranked No. 1 headed into the NCAA tournament but lost one game short of the Final Four. Branstrom was hoping he'd finally get to go this year. Instead he received a gift certificate from a Mexican restaurant from students who felt guilty about setting up the prank.

Here's the version from College Park last year, when the guy who got punked thought he won $500,000.