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NEED TO KNOW
A Clemson women’s basketball player got a thoughtful birthday gift from her teammates.
On Jan. 27, the South Carolina university posted a video of Rusne Augustinaite’s Tigers teammates, surprising her by bringing her mother, Rasa, to her door on her 22nd birthday. According to CBS News, Augustinaite’s teammates pooled money together to make the surprise possible.
“The best thing you’ll see all week,” Clemson captioned the video. “We’ve got a pretty special group.”
The video began with a cameraman approaching a residential door at night as lights in the living room could be seen from the outside. Rasa then knocked on the door to greet her daughter, who was initially confused until she realized what was happening.
While her teammates yelled “surprise,” Rasa walked closer to Augustinaite. They immediately began to cry, and the two immediately hugged. Some of Augustinaite’s teammates cried during the reunion as well.
“I’m so, so grateful,” Augustinaite said in the video. “Where I was last year, and when I came here, and just the family we built, it’s crazy.”
A separate video was placed over the clip, which seemed to show the moments before Rasa’s arrival as the teammates recorded fun dancing videos with one another.
“Having her here just means so much, because, like I said, I haven’t seen her during basketball season in seven years,” Augustinaite said, unable to finish her sentence.
John Byrum/Icon Sportswire via Getty
“We planned this because I know how important it is to have your mom around, and having your mom to be at your games and everything, so really wanted to surprise Rus with this for her birthday,” one of Augustinaite’s teammates explained.
The Clemson Tigers’ Jan. 29 game against Southern Methodist University was the first time Rasa saw her daughter play basketball in the U.S., per FOX Carolina. Clemson won 83-54, with Augustinaite scoring 21 points.
After the game, Tigers head coach Shawn Poppie said during his press conference that the plan for the surprise began around Thanksgiving.
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“The hardest part was holding on to the secret for that long,” Poppie, 40, said. “And then we had travel delays going on.”
Despite a delayed flight and Rasa not landing “until almost midnight” when “Rus goes to bed at like 8:30,” her teammates still pulled it off by convincing her to do a “team bonding event.”
“They did a heck of a job,” Poppie said of his team.
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