‘Puro Vaquero’: UTRGV lecturer makes most of second chance on ‘Jeopardy!’

UTRGV lecturer William Yancey advanced to the Champion’s Wildcard Tournament in “Jeopardy!” on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Courtesy: UTRGV)

What is a second chance?

William Yancey, a UTRGV history lecturer, is experiencing the answer to that question as a contestant in “Jeopardy!” as he advanced to the semifinals Monday in the Champion’s Wildcard Tournament.

Yancey’s “Jeopardy!” journey started when he was just 13 in northern Alabama.

“It’s unbelievable,” Yancey said. “I’ve been watching this show since I was 13 years old. Tried out for it for the first time 20 years ago and to actually make it to that stage once was a big deal and to be invited to come back twice and then continue is, I can’t really put it in words.”

Yancey arrived in Texas in 1997. He dreamed of being a rockstar in Dallas. However, he eventually made his way down south eight years ago and landed a job at UTRGV in 2021.

The lecturer’s area of concentration is 19th Century Texas but he also teaches U.S. history and other classes specialized for social studies education majors.

Yancey said he started watching “Jeopardy!” around 1984 with his grandmother.

“My grandfather had retired and he had a big garden and I would work with him outside,” he said. “Everyday, like clockwork, he would take his lunch break at noon and he’s back out at 12:30. Well, back then, ‘Jeopardy!’ came on in Birmingham at 12:30 p.m. Me and my grandmother liked to watch it, and she liked to see if I could answer the questions. So I figured out real quickly if I watched it, that got me 30 extra minutes inside, in the air conditioning.”

Falling in love with the show, Yancey said there are a lot of memories with his grandmother and how she encouraged all of his intellectual pursuits.

“I’ve always kind of been of the opinion that knowledge, for the sake of knowledge, is a good thing,” he said. “It’s something to be attained in and out of itself and watching the show and seeing things I didn’t know led me to want to go find out more about it … and when really the value, I think of a liberal arts education is when you realize that all this stuff clicks together. History has an impact on literature and art and all this stuff kind of goes together.”

UTRGV lecturer William Yancey, left, advanced to the Champion’s Wildcard Tournament in “Jeopardy!” on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (Courtesy: UTRGV)

Yancey made his first appearance on “Jeopardy!” in September 2024 and finished in third place.

“I did really well and so they brought me back for the second chance competition,” he said. “I won that … I advanced to this one. It’s called the Champions Wild Card. There’s two second chance winners that are in this and everybody else are people that won, like one or two games during regular ‘Jeopardy!’ play … So the winner of this will advance to the tournament of champions.”

After winning on Monday, Yancey now advances to the semifinals that are scheduled to air next Tuesday.

Yancey thanked UTRGV and the Valley for all the positivity during his “Jeopardy!” journey.

However, one comment stood out to him and was a big deal.

“The one that really got me the most was when, because I’ve only been in South Texas about eight years now, the first time the university posted something about me … one of the comments said ‘Puro Vaquero’ and I thought well, now I’ve made it in the Valley,” he said. “They’re cheering me on in Spanish, man, I’m in.

Asked what advice he could give to Valley students that have a thirst for knowledge like has, he said, “Never lose that love of learning. Keep reading everything you can get your hands on, anything that fires your imagination.”

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