The Clemson women’s basketball team had a big surprise for one teammate.
Tigers guard Rusne Augustinaite is thousands of miles away from her family in Lithuania. However, seeing one family member in person helped her feel a bit less homesick. Augustinaite was recently surprised by her Clemson teammates with a visit from her mom for her birthday. The moment left the Tigers guard momentarily stunned and speechless. Then, the tears started flowing as the pair hugged and reunited.
With her teammates clapping around her, Augustinaite was visibly overcome with emotion. “What?” she said, seemingly in disbelief. “I’m still shaking,” she said moments later. The Georgia Tech transfer revealed to her teammates that she hadn’t seen her mom during basketball season in seven years. Tigers head coach Shawn Poppie later shared that, with his help, the team started planning the surprise in November of last year and reportedly used NIL money to help coordinate the flight.
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“Obviously, I was dang near in tears at just the idea,” Poppie said. “The hardest part was holding on to the secret that long.”
“It felt unreal, still till this day. I didn’t expect that at all,” Augustinaite said, describing the reunion with her mom.
“They just planned everything so perfectly, and for them [to make] this happen, it’s amazing. I just thank coach [Shawn] Poppie for recruiting those people. Without them, I wouldn’t experience that. It’s a lifelong memory, and it’s just unreal.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clemson women’s basketball uses NIL money to fly mom in for visit
