The Independent – Feb. 19, 2015
By William Geoghegan
Usually, if a 3-pointer gave the University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team a 14-point lead, Jason Coppa would be the loudest fan in the Ryan Center.
“I get a little unhinged,” he said.
He was feeling it Saturday – sweaty palms, nervous energy, wondering if he might pass out – but it had nothing to do with the 3-pointer T.J. Buchanan made with 16:24 left in the second half.
It was about the ring.
Coppa proposed to his girlfriend Alicia Colozzi during a timeout a few minutes later, with the cameras catching all of it. She said yes, the Valentine’s Day crowd ate it up, and the video soon went viral. It opened ESPN’s SportsCenter the next morning.
For two lifelong URI fans – who started dating after reconnecting at a URI basketball game – it was quite a moment.
“It was just awesome,” Coppa said.
Coppa, a North Kingstown native, is a 2010 graduate of URI. Colozzi, of Cranston, graduated in 2011. Both have family roots at the school and can trace their hoops passion back to Keaney Gymnasium.
“I’ve been following them my whole life,” Colozzi said.
But even Coppa, a URI ball boy as a kid and the organizer of the Rhody Mob student section while he was in school, wasn’t sure about a public proposal during a game. He thought it might be cheesy and wondered if it would take away from a moment meant to be shared by two people.
He ran the idea by Colozzi’s father, Mark, another Ram.
“I was talking it over with him and asked him if it was crazy and he said, ‘No way. That’s you guys. That’s who you are,’” Coppa said.
With that endorsement, the wheels were set in motion.
Coppa had interned in the athletic department and reached out. People were eager to help.
“They were phenomenal,” Coppa said.
They picked Valentine’s Day and arranged for Alicia’s father to sing the national anthem, something he does a few times a year anyway. That would allow for family to be there without raising suspicion.
Separately, Coppa and Colozzi entered the McKay’s Furniture Front Porch promotion, which takes sweepstakes winners from their usual seats to a couch in a Ryan Center luxury suite. Since the couple is looking to buy a house, that didn’t sound any alarms either. When Coppa learned they were winners, the proposal suddenly had a perfect cover. The promotion’s winners are announced and shown on the big screen at every game. Coppa would simply get down on a knee when the time came.
They just had to keep it a secret.
“She knew a ring was coming but I think she expected it in the summer,” Coppa said. “But as we got closer, I think all of southern Rhode Island knew except for her.”
Coppa planted a few seeds, saying that he hated public proposals. Popping the question on Valentine’s Day, he said, was even worse.
When they walked into the Ryan Center Saturday, Coppa was greeted by several athletic department officials who gave him a wink and a smile. He hoped Colozzi wouldn’t notice. He also hoped she wouldn’t question why so many of their family members were in attendance.
In retrospect, she could see the puzzle pieces, but in the moment, she didn’t put them together.
“He’s so sneaky,” she said with a laugh.
When the moment came, Coppa and Colozzi were joined in the suite by game emcee John Vanner, who happened to be a ball boy at the same time as Coppa. Vanner went through the usual promotion then got the crowd’s attention when Coppa went to a knee.
“When I got down, it got loud,” Coppa said.
Colozzi was still waving to the crowd when she turned and saw her boyfriend on a knee.
“I didn’t see him when I turned and then I looked down,” Colozzi said. “I could barely hear him, but he said how he had lied about not liking public proposals. I started to cry a little and the rest of it was just a blur.”
Family members poured into the suite and shared in the moment.
“We both come from big Italian families so having everyone there was really great,” Colozzi said.
There was a party that night at the Colozzi home in Cranston. Sunday, there was ESPN and catching up on phone calls and texts. Monday, Alicia said she was still tired.
“I can’t believe how big it got,” Coppa said. “It was just crazy.”
For now, they’re taking a little time to let it all sink in before they start looking at venues and dates.
And there’s still a basketball season to worry about. The Rams won Saturday to cap off the perfect day. Big games remain, and Coppa and Colozzi will be back at full attention for the rest of them.
Thanks to a Valentine’s Day surprise, they’ll be cheering as the future Mr. and Mrs. Coppa.
“I told her, ‘A girl as awesome as you deserves the attention,’” Coppa said. “I’m just really glad we were able to make it happen.”