The Iowa State women’s basketball team came away with a comfortable 86-47 win over Alabama State on Sunday, but center Anna Prins was left celebrating more than just a blowout victory. After the game, Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly led a young man named Ryan De Hamer out onto the court. Considering De Hamer is Prins’ boyfriend, she probably had a hunch about what was going to happen next.
With a microphone in-hand, De Hamer got down on one knee at center court and proposed to the 6-foot-7 senior. She said yes.
“I was crying,” Prins told the Ames Gazette. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place, just with all the people that were involved: Coach (Bill Fennelly), my team, the fans in Hilton, my family was there. Pretty special.”
Fennelly said he was more than happy to turn the attention away from the win and onto the happy couple.
“We orchestrated it, I think, where the timing was good for everybody involved,” he said with a laugh. “He set the bar pretty high for all the other boyfriends. There’s not very many times where I’ll admit there are other things more important than basketball. That was one of those times. Fun to be a part of.”
The Iowa state coach added that the most challenging aspect of being part of the act was keeping it a secret — especially from his own wife.
Kudos to De Hamer for the creativity. We have seen some proposals that have gone terribly wrong at sporting events, and any time you can avoid becoming a part of the proposal Hall of Shame you deserve credit in our book.
Chest bump to The Dagger
