Photo via @OhioStateHoops on Twitter
Ohio State walk-on guard Braylan Nash didn’t get much air time on the court in his first season with the program, but he certainly got his chance in the national spotlight this past week at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. That’s where he and his family appeared in four episodes of the iconic “Family Feud” game show and took home the program’s ultimate $20,000 prize.
Nash made his entertainment TV debut alongside his parents, Marsha and David, his sister, Micaylah Preston, and his brother-in-law, former Ohio University star and current Utah Jazz guard Jason Preston. The quintet earned a spot on the show in large part due to the efforts of Micaylah, who recognized that her family was made for TV and filled out an application to play that took over a year to be approved.
The Nash family, which hails from New Albany, Ohio, fared well in the first game held on Tuesday, defeating the competing family to advance to the second game on Wednesday. Braylen sent his family to the next round by providing the final survey answer on the board, answering “mother” for the question “in your nightmares, who are you taking a shower with?”
The Nash’s didn’t receive the grand prize of $20,000 that day due to Marsha scoring just 38 points in the “Fast Money” round, but in the second game they accomplished that feat with ease. After once again defeating their competing family, Micaylah earned 184 of the 200 points needed to win the $20,000 prize in the first half of the Fast Money round. That marked the second-highest score of the season, according to Family Feud’s official Twitter page.
Micalyah’s strong score allowed her father, who was up next in the round, to send his family home with the grand prize just two questions in, earning his team 26 points by answering “church” to the second survey question: “name a place you sneak into if you’re late.”
Micalyah’s strong score allowed her father, who was up next in the round, to not only send his family home with the grand prize but buy them another day in the game by eclipsing the required 200 points just two survey questions in.
The Nash’s took full advantage of the extra day on Thursday, going all the way to the Fast Money again and getting another strong score from Michaylah and her father, scoring 216 total points to win another $20,000 and move onto day four.
When the show ended, longtime host Steve Harvey announced that the family had accumulated a three-day total of $40,685.
It was not clear as this story was published if the Nash family had won more than that amount in the next episode they appeared in.
Regardless, Nash told The Columbus Dispatch prior to the show airing that the show was an unforgettable experience, and that meeting and spending time with the seven-time Emmy Award winner Harvey was his favorite moment of the entire two-day experience.
“It didn’t even feel real,” Nash said. “The things he said, interacting with him, was definitely the top moment. Half the stuff won’t even make the actual episode, but he’s so good at what he does and he’s absolutely so funny.”
Nash will now try to translate his winning ways from the studio to the hardwood for his second season with the Buckeyes. He scored just five points in nine games last year.
