NCAA Helps SMU Basketball Player to Visit Mother Before Her Military Deployment

Markus Kennedy

Southern Methodist's Markus Kennedy couldn't have had a more perfect day. He followed up a career performance with a heart-touching moment where he was allowed to say good-bye to his mother one last time before she deployed overseas.

As FOX Sports Southwest's Keith Whitmire writes, the sophomore led SMU in a surprising 87-72 upset of then-No. 22 Memphis that featured 21 points and 15 rebounds. Kennedy then got on a place to Philadelphia to say good-bye to his mom.

Kennedy's mother, Barbara, is an Air Force sergeant and on Monday, she was leaving for an eight-

month deployment in Kuwait for her third tour of duty. Her first two tours were in Germany and Korea when Kennedy was younger.

Kennedy didn't know he would be going to Philadelphia to say his goodbyes until after the game. NBC Sports' Rob Dauster reports Kennedy said, “They surprised me after the game. They told me I had a ticket to go home. That’s all I needed to know. Rushed in the shower, got my clothes, and I was on the way to the airport. I didn’t ask any questions, I just said thank you to who I had to say thank you to.”

Kennedy quickly contacted his aunt while getting ready to fly. Together, they coordinated just how they would surprise his mother.

During a going-away party for his mom, Kennedy's aunt organized a game where his mom was blind-folded and she needed to feel each family member's face and guess who he or she was. Barbara was blindfolded when Kennedy snuck in the room and kneeled down to make himself seem shorter.

What next occurred was a touching and tearful reunion between mother and son while family members looked on around them.

The entire reunion wouldn't have been possible if not for the efforts of the SMU staff and the good graces of the NCAA, which for once demonstrated leniency for all the right reasons.

Kennedy didn't have the funds to pay for a place ticket and would have been relegated to saying good-bye over the phone. Head coach Larry Brown called Kyle Conder, SMU's Senior Associate AD for Compliance who started the process of applying for a legislative relief waiver.

Normally such waivers are granted to students with financial difficulties in the event of a family death or serious illness. Conder admits that Kennedy's application was the first time he's handled a request due to military deployment. Included in the application were statements from Kennedy and his aunt as well as a copy of Barbara's Air Force orders.

The rest is history. The NCAA granted the waiver, SMU arranged the flight and Kennedy wished his mom farewell. In the past few years, the NCAA has been criticized for all the times its been difficult to work with but this time, the NCAA deserves considerable credit for giving mother and son one last happy memory together in person until they see one another again.