If you’re the kind of person who waits until the last second to fill in your NCAA Tournament bracket because you don’t know anything about any of the teams, and you just need one reason to pick a team to win the whole thing, then I might have you covered. On Sunday, the No. 22 Michigan State Spartans defeated the No. 8 Michigan Wolverines 69-55 in the Big Ten Championship and celebrated, as all teams do, by letting each player cut off a piece of the net after the game. Spartans star Adreian Payne didn’t need any help climbing a few steps on a ladder and using scissors, but he chose to get some assistance anyway, from 8-year old Lacey Holsworth.
Payne first met Holsworth two years ago in a hospital, where she was being treated for neuroblastoma. Since then, the two have become like brother and sister, texting each other on a daily basis, appearing at Dick Vitale’s charity gala last year, and even watching the Selection Sunday show together. And just like she did on Michigan State’s Senior Night, “Princess Lacey,” as the team calls her, found her way to the court after the Big Ten Championship, where Payne helped her up the ladder and let her cut off his piece of the net.
If you’re not the kind of person who enjoys watching guys slowly cut things with scissors while a pep band plays Reel Big Fish covers, fast forward to the 5:30 mark for Princess Lacey’s appearance, and then read the rest of this touching relationship at Fox Sports before you move the Spartans all the way to the NCAA Championship game.
