‘Hannibal Lecter’ mask designed by engineers helped March Madness star bounce back from gruesome injury
James Scott is hard to miss. If you were watching Louisville’s first round game against Creighton, chances are you noticed Scott right away. Scott has been earring the mask the last month of playGetty That’s because the Louisville big man was wearing a mask that has a striking resemblance to the one worn by Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 movie “Silence of the Lambs.” Scott has been wearing the mask since getting hit in the face while going after a loose ball that caused him to lose a couple of front teeth while also having suffered major dental and facial injuries. The game took place on Feb. 8 against the University of Miami. Louisville didn’t want Scott to miss important game time down the home stretch of their season, so what did they do? They went to Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering to inquire about creating a mask for Scott that would protect him, while also giving him the comfortability to play without restrictions. Luckily for Scott and the basketball team, engineers Sophie Wegenast and Justin Gillham were the two for the job. With the help of 3D printing technology, Wegenast and Gillham were able to design, create and print a mask that was able to get Scott back on the court in no time. Gillham and Wegenast spoke with The Athletic about the process it took to come up with the mask and bring their vision to fruition. “This has been crazy, because doing what we did for this, you don’t learn this in engineering school,” Gillham said. “I learned how to do this by playing with goofy ‘Star Wars’ models on the internet, doing all the nerd stuff like Dungeons & Dragons miniatures and manipulating those. Scott and the Cardinals are an eight-ranked seed in the NCAA tournamentGetty Scott is one of Louisville’s most important players on the Cardinal squadGetty “I’m not making goofy masks, but you do the same kind of techniques for working with these digital files. “So, we learn all that through doing this stuff as a hobby rather than (from) our job or our schools.” Wegenast reflected on her career path and how she never thought in a million years that she was ever going to dip her toe into the world of athletics. “I would have thought, like, biomedicine, something like that,” Wegenast said. “But athletics was never in the cards. “To make such a big wave in athletics has been super cool for us, because we’re just the engineers. March Madness Top Stories Ranking the greatest players in NCAA men’s March Madness history – from Michael Jordan to Magic Johnson ‘This sister is special’ – Stephen A. Smith identifies rising star who can challenge Caitlin Clark’s WNBA dominance NCAA March Madness is bigger and better than the College Football Playoff – the springtime phenomenon is bigger than ever Biggest March Madness upsets in history of NCAA Tournament – top seeds humiliated as small schools enjoy their moment “Like, we’re the nerds. We’re over here at Speed School. We don’t do sports; we don’t really get involved in that. “So, to be involved with athletics, it’s just been really a fun, fun thing. “It was really cool because our lab, it’s pretty much just me and Justin and a few co-op students working there. “To see something from our little space on the big screen, and it’s such an important thing and actually being used for going to the NCAA Tournament, it was really cool.” Scott and the Louisville Cardinals were given an eight seed and will play the ninth seeded Creighton Blue Jays in the first round of the NCAA tournament. March Madness is where heroes are made. Legends are forged in the tournament. Scott and his Bane-inspired, Hannibal Lecter-looking mask are looking to make a big run, and if he does, the mask may have to be retired in the rafters one day. How to watch March Madness in the UK *If you click a link in this box we will earn affiliate revenue March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions. This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years. talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service. Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
James Scott is hard to miss.
If you were watching Louisville’s first round game against Creighton, chances are you noticed Scott right away.
That’s because the Louisville big man was wearing a mask that has a striking resemblance to the one worn by Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 movie “Silence of the Lambs.”
Scott has been wearing the mask since getting hit in the face while going after a loose ball that caused him to lose a couple of front teeth while also having suffered major dental and facial injuries.
The game took place on Feb. 8 against the University of Miami.
Louisville didn’t want Scott to miss important game time down the home stretch of their season, so what did they do?
They went to Louisville’s J.B. Speed School of Engineering to inquire about creating a mask for Scott that would protect him, while also giving him the comfortability to play without restrictions.
Luckily for Scott and the basketball team, engineers Sophie Wegenast and Justin Gillham were the two for the job.
With the help of 3D printing technology, Wegenast and Gillham were able to design, create and print a mask that was able to get Scott back on the court in no time.
Gillham and Wegenast spoke with The Athletic about the process it took to come up with the mask and bring their vision to fruition.
“This has been crazy, because doing what we did for this, you don’t learn this in engineering school,” Gillham said.
“I learned how to do this by playing with goofy ‘Star Wars’ models on the internet, doing all the nerd stuff like Dungeons & Dragons miniatures and manipulating those.
“I’m not making goofy masks, but you do the same kind of techniques for working with these digital files.
“So, we learn all that through doing this stuff as a hobby rather than (from) our job or our schools.”
Wegenast reflected on her career path and how she never thought in a million years that she was ever going to dip her toe into the world of athletics.
“I would have thought, like, biomedicine, something like that,” Wegenast said.
“But athletics was never in the cards.
“To make such a big wave in athletics has been super cool for us, because we’re just the engineers.
March Madness Top Stories
Ranking the greatest players in NCAA men’s March Madness history – from Michael Jordan to Magic Johnson
‘This sister is special’ – Stephen A. Smith identifies rising star who can challenge Caitlin Clark’s WNBA dominance
NCAA March Madness is bigger and better than the College Football Playoff – the springtime phenomenon is bigger than ever
Biggest March Madness upsets in history of NCAA Tournament – top seeds humiliated as small schools enjoy their moment
“Like, we’re the nerds. We’re over here at Speed School. We don’t do sports; we don’t really get involved in that.
“So, to be involved with athletics, it’s just been really a fun, fun thing.
“It was really cool because our lab, it’s pretty much just me and Justin and a few co-op students working there.
“To see something from our little space on the big screen, and it’s such an important thing and actually being used for going to the NCAA Tournament, it was really cool.”
Scott and the Louisville Cardinals were given an eight seed and will play the ninth seeded Creighton Blue Jays in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
March Madness is where heroes are made.
Legends are forged in the tournament.
Scott and his Bane-inspired, Hannibal Lecter-looking mask are looking to make a big run, and if he does, the mask may have to be retired in the rafters one day.
How to watch March Madness in the UK
*If you click a link in this box we will earn affiliate revenue
March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions.
This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years.
talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service.
Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
