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Former NCAA WR Matthew Cherry nominated for Oscar after predicting he would be in 2012

In 2012, a former Akron receiver predicted he'd be nominated for an Oscar. On Monday, it became reality. (Andrew Toth/Getty Images/Columbia Pictures)
In 2012, a former Akron receiver predicted he'd be nominated for an Oscar. On Monday, it became reality. (Andrew Toth/Getty Images/Columbia Pictures)

Matthew Cherry is a talented artist.

He’s also prescient.

The former standout Akron wide receiver who tallied almost 2,000 yards and 10 touchdowns in three seasons set his eyes on the entertainment industry in 2007 after his NFL career failed to launch beyond three years of bouncing around practice squads and active rosters without playing a snap.

Cherry’s bold prediction

He used his media degree from Akron to work behind the scenes in production and writing efforts for titles like “BlacKkKlansman,” “The Last O.G.,” and “Black-ish,” according to News 5 in Cleveland.

In 2012, he predicted the he would be nominated for an Oscar.

On Monday — almost eight years after that tweet — Cherry’s prediction came true.

‘Hair Love’ gets Oscar nod

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced early Monday that Cherry’s film titled “Hair Love” is nominated for an Oscar in the Animated Short category.

Cherry describes the seven-minute film he wrote and co-directed as about an “African American father learning how to do his daughter’s hair for the first time.”

Already a NYT best seller

An illustrated book adaptation of the film made the New York Times Best Seller List. Cherry funded the film by raising $300,000 on Kickstarter, and now has an Oscar nomination to show for it.

If he wins, it will be in the same category that Kobe Bryant took home a 2018 Oscar for his animated short “Dear Basketball.”

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