AKRON, Ohio – At just 24 years old, Terry Heard Jr. recently became Northeast Ohio’s newest Jeopardy! champion.

Heard, who is finishing up a chemical engineering degree at the University of Akron and works as an aircraft maintainer at the Air National Guard base in Mansfield, appeared on the trivia competition show on Friday and Monday, winning a total of $19,663.

Cleveland.com sat down with Heard on Tuesday to talk about his path to getting on the show, his experience competing and what advice he would give to potential contestants.

How did he win on Friday?

Heard got off to a rough start, dipping to negative-$2,000, but he eventually climbed out of the hole and landed on a Daily Double during the second round. For the $2,000 clue, in the category “Trees Grow on Money,” Heard took a deep breath and risked all of his $9,800 for a “true Daily Double.”

Host Alex Trebek read, “A former Italian 100-lire coin shows Minerva grasping one of these four trees big in Italian agriculture."

Heard correctly answered, “What is an olive tree?”

The risky wager boosted Heard into a first-place position, and he could not be caught by Final Jeopardy.

“I just love olive trees so much now,” Heard said.

How did he get interested in Jeopardy!?

Heard said he got hooked during his freshman year at Copley High School.

“I was over at my great-grandma’s house and we were watching Jeopardy! and I realized how much I didn’t know,” he said. “I got like, maybe a few questions right, and that’s what really motivated me to learn more. I wanted to fill in those holes in my knowledge. Just knowing stuff makes me feel good.”

From there, he started watching Jeopardy! each night and combing through the fan-created J! Archive of previous categories and clues.

When did he first try out for the show?

Heard took the online test three times, in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The show invited him to audition in 2017, but Heard overlooked the email.

“Apparently I got an email, and I got invited to the audition, but I did not know about it. I looked at it later, like, on the Jeopardy! website, and it said that I got an audition in Pittsburgh, and I was like, ‘Oh no, I didn’t know!’”

The third time was the charm, and about a month after Heard took the test in March 2018, he received – and opened – an email inviting him to audition in Cleveland in June.

“It’s surreal, since I’m not the luckiest person,” Heard said. “And you do need luck, because you can pass the test and never get called.”

Terry Heard Jr., 24, of Akron recently became a one-time 'Jeopardy!' champion, racking up a total of $19,663. (Robin Goist, cleveland.com)

What was it like to get the call to be on the show?

Heard was sitting in an engineering class at UA called “Project Management” when he looked down and saw he was getting a call from an unknown number in Culver City, California, but he didn’t pick up.

“I was like, ‘Where have I heard that name before?’ but I thought it was a telemarketer, so I let it go to voicemail. Then I Googled ‘Culver City,’ and I was like, wait, this could be Jeopardy!”

Heard stepped out of the classroom and listened to the voicemail from the Jeopardy! producer, gave her a call back and heard the good news. He returned to class and told one of his group project partners, who was far from excited.

“The first person I told, he had never even heard of Jeopardy! He didn’t care so I just put my head down, like, I guess it’s not that big of a deal,” Heard said, laughing.

How did he prepare?

“Before the online test, I was going through the [Jeopardy!] archive a lot,” he said. “For the audition, I went through my weak categories.”

He categorized his weak spots as the “fun stuff,” such as movies, TV shows and other bits of pop culture. He didn’t focus too much on his strong areas, which he described as geography, history and artists.

“But I didn’t get Modigliani,” Heard said about a $2,000 clue from his Monday game: “Jeanne Hébuterne had a slightly shorter neck than depicted in the works of her beau, this Italian painter.”

He made a huge comeback Friday by wagering a “true Daily Double,” which made for a runaway game. Was that aggressive betting strategy inspired by James Holzhauer, the professional sports gambler who won more than $2 million over 32 games last year?

“He [Holzhauer] may have influenced me to do that, but I’m kind of a risky person in general,” Heard said. “And also, I saw [2015 Tournament of Champions winner] Alex Jacob play, and he would go all-in.”

That wasn’t the only way Jacob inspired Heard. The Akron man on Friday also copied one of Jacob’s incorrect, jocular Final Jeopardy responses, “What is Aleve?” in reference to one of the show’s regular advertisers that airs commercials in the style of Jeopardy! clues.

Can’t believe it’s been almost 5 years! RT if you’re old enough to remember #whatisaleve #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/0FxBSbcPIU — Alex Jacob (@whoisalexjacob) February 15, 2020

On Monday, Heard’s answer for Final Jeopardy was also a joke: “What is the answer to this clue?”

“Final Jeopardy is like fifty-fifty for me,” Heard said. “A lot of the times, I know it but I just can’t come up with the answer. And with the cameras and lights, I was not going to risk that. So, I felt like I had a better chance doubling everything [in Daily Doubles].”

Part of Heard’s strategy was to also jump around the board in an attempt to find the Daily Doubles, which he said was inspired by Holzhauer and Arthur Chu, of Broadview Heights, who was an 11-time champion and runner-up in the 2014 Tournament of Champions.

What was it like to meet Trebek, who has pancreatic cancer and has announced his time as Jeopardy! host will soon come to an end?

“Oh, it was amazing,” Heard said. “It feels like I’ve known him all my life since I’ve been watching Jeopardy! every night.

“Obviously, you know he’s sick, but you would never guess it by having a conversation with him. And how he is on TV, in front of the cameras, is exactly what he’s like off of the cameras. He’s the exact same. He’s so down-to-earth, and he’s so witty and funny, too.”

How did it feel to represent Akron on a national stage?

“It felt great,” he said. “The support from the city, it felt so good, especially after I won… I was getting all this attention, like on social media, and I never really go on social media. It made me feel so good that people were willing to put aside their own time to watch me. Everyone was so excited to me, and that means so much to me.

“I felt like I represented Akron pretty well.”

Does he have any plans for the money?

“I’m not just saying this because it’s the right answer, but I want to help my parents pay off their mortgage,” Heard said. “And, knock on wood, my car is still running well, but if I have to, I’ll use some of that money for a new car. I’ll just invest the rest and figure it out.”

Any advice for people who want to get on the show?

“If you take the test, or get called for an audition, take advantage of the opportunity,” he said. “Make sure you study.”

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