A beautiful wedding with a lot of hidden messages

BOB STARKEY: It is always special as a coach when your players hit milestones in their life -- and even more special when they ask you to share those moments.  In the the past two month, I've got to see Ashley Thomas walk across the stage and receive her Master's Degree and then last night wed Tremaine Johnson.  Ashley is a very special and unique woman.  She is someone who is destined to do great things and make amazing contributions.  She is a strong and focused person who genuinely cares about others.  Many of these things flood through my mind during the wedding and the reception.

First was the impact of LSU on the families as the wedding court entered the reception two-line dancing in true Mardi Gras fashion complete with Zydeco music, umbrellas and beads.  It reminded me of how we entered Ashley's first Final Four banquet in New Orleans -- and I hope she had at least a second of that memory.

One of the first things I noticed was that there was a total of eight managers at the wedding.  For those that coach, you know this is significant because unfortunately not all players treat managers with the respect that they deserve.  One of the managers, Traci Moore Barrilleaux actually flew in from South Carolina.  Of course the fact that these managers came also speaks to who they are and I promise a post on these young ladies soon as well. 

There were also former players there, some coming from a ways to attend.  But it was also worth noting that some of our current team was in attendance -- players who had not played with Ashley but had been mentored by her over the past two years as she served as her Graduate Assistant.  Typically Ashley -- in the background but making a huge impact.  The LSU academic community was also on hand -- Carole Walker and Leah Saal -- and because of their respect for Ashley.

Her high school basketball coach game all the way from Georgia -- the same coach that taught Taylor Turnbow (the man can obviously coach).  But I promise you he didn't come because of Ashley's basketball ability -- but because of her character.

And for those that haven't met Tremaine, he's a great guy and I really believe these two are going to make a wonderful couple.  At the reception, I had the opportunity to talk to Tremaine, a current member of the Minnesota Vikings, and told him we finally had something in common.  In terms of our spouses, we both had "out kicked our coverage."

Congrats to Ashley and Tremaine!!!

Posted by Bob Starkey