It took us 45 states to finally come to a state that doesn't have one single NBA alumni player born within its borders and honestly, we're not surprised that it is Vermont. However, we were able to discover that the state does have local basketball legend in Taylor Coppenrath. Born in the city of Barnet, Taylor Copenrath didn't play varsity basketball until his junior year of high school but somehow was able to become the Vermont Player of the Year his senior year in 2000.
Coppenrath then went on to play four years of college basketball at the University of Vermont where he led the team to three straight America East Conference titles averaging 21.4 points per game. Coppenrath is currently the all-time leader in field goals made at the university with 851 and second all-time leading scorer with a total of 2,442 points. During the 2004-05 season, Coppenrath led UVM to its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory over Syracuse. While he declared himself for the NBA Draft in 2005, he was not selected but did participate in the NBA Summer League as a member of the Boston Celtics. When he wasn't picked up by the team, he headed overseas where he played for a decade professionally.
Most of your favorite celebrities either studied acting in college or went straight from high school into a life of the arts. But, hey, not all of them. Some celebrities actually have advanced college degrees.
Turns out Mayim Bialik is just as much of a genius as the one she plays on The Big Bang Theory. She earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles, focusing on obsessive compulsive disorder among people with Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare condition in which the hypothalamus malfunctions.
Little known fact: Natalie Portman skipped the premiere of Star Wars: Phantom Menace because she was studying for her high school exams. She had two papers published in scientific journals while she was still in high school, and graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in Psychology.
Before he was looking for answers on X-Files, David Duchovny was just trying to find the answers for English finals at Princeton University90. David graduated from Princeton in 1982 with a B.A in English. He continued to feed his love of literature by receiving a master’s degree in English Literature at Yale University. David was an excellent writer and poet. His work consistently received praise by his fellow classmates and teachers at Yale. His writing was even nominated for a college prize by the Academy of American Poets.
Sigourney Weaver graduated from Stanford University in 1971 with a bachelor’s in Literature. It was while studying at Stanford that Sigourney realized her true passion in life was to become an actress. Shortly after graduation, she attended Yale for their well-known drama program. She would go on to receive a master’s in Acting from Yale University and become friends with fellow famous actress Meryl Streep.
Meryl Streep is considered one of the most successful actresses of all time. She is also one of the most highly educated. Before collecting an array of Oscars, Meryl collected diplomas. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in 1971. Meryl has a habit of being unsatisfied with impressive accomplishments as her acting career has shown, so she attended Yale University and earned a master’s degree in Acting.