Last year following Alabama’s history run the the Final Four, Lameka Sears, Mark’s “hype” mom, shared with me her journey and how she tries to ensure her children do not experience the pain she endured. Now, as Alabama begins its postseason, she wanted to talk about how her faith girded their family through the 2024-25 season and gives her joy.
These are her words:
There’s nothing better than watching your child compete at the highest level of their sport. Sometimes, there’s nothing worse.
My family has experienced both this season in watching our son and brother Mark in his last season at Alabama — and we’re grateful for it all.
It’s hard to miss me at games, I know. I’m all glitter and smile. It’s the hot seat, and I’m okay with it. I always hope to be a channel of energy for Mark. Positive energy. My husband and I prayed before every single game he’s ever played. He’ll put his head down, I’ll put my head down, and we’re like, “Okay, God, just be with him. Just cover him.” We always tell Mark that God will get the glory, no matter what. Sometimes, it may not look like a twenty- or thirty-point game, but God will still get the glory.
The final game at Auburn was definitely the season’s high point — literally and, well, literally. Of course Mark taking control and beating the buzzer for a 93-91 win in overtime is one reason. But that was just the culmination of a day that began with us climbing to our seats at the very top of Neville Arena. We always had somewhat decent seats at Auburn. But for this game, we could high-five Jesus — and I was wearing boots with four-inch heels.
When I’d go get food, my daughter held me. She said: “Mama, I don’t want you to fall. Maybe we should have stayed at home and watched on TV.” I said, “Trust me, I am not gonna fall.”
The mothers of Aden Holloway and Chris Youngblood were sitting behind the bench. We have a “moms” text chat group. One wrote, “I’m sitting here with my headphones on” because it was so loud. I said, “Well, that’s great because we’re talking to Jesus.”
But I told my family: “Thank God we’re here. Thank God I’m able to be here, healthy enough to climb all these steps and high-five Jesus. This is probably where we need to be, although this ain’t where I want to be. But we’re in the building.” I just kept saying: We’re in the building.
We were behind the goal at the end where Mark hit the shot. I had said, “Mark is gonna do something great. Just watch. It’s gonna happen. It’s coming. It’s due.”
I kept saying: Mark has to have the ball in his hands. He didn’t have that opportunity in the final moments at Tennessee (a 79-76 loss), so’s he got to have the ball because he’s built for this. This is just what he’s known to do. What he’s always done. That’s just a mom for you.
I recall a game last year when I think he ended up passing it to someone at the end, and they didn’t get it off. I was like, “You were supposed to take that shot.” We’ve instilled in him that when he makes a pass and a teammate scores, he’s lit his candle, too. Not only is it light for them, but it’s also light for him. At Auburn, he had to be that light.
The low point is pretty obvious, too — when Mark was benched for the whole second half against LSU (Alabama won 80-73 in Coleman Coliseum.) It was the lowest for both of us, without a shadow of a doubt.
I had an intuition when I saw Mark’s face as the players took the court in the second half. He was not with them. He looked like he’s been hit with a ton of bricks. I said: I don’t think Mark’s going in. I could see it on his face. After three minutes and he still hadn’t played, I knew this was going to be a big ‘ole deal. Folks will be asking, why did Mark not play?
I defended my son on my Facebook page. Even I could not see past the moment to how God would use this for His glory. It’s not always our business how God chooses to teach a lesson. Through this Mark learned to depend deeper on his faith, something bigger than himself.
It hurt me when Mark said: “Mama, how am I supposed to let this go?” I said, “I’ll tell you what you’re gonna do: Use your faith. God is gonna carry us through this.”
I clarified then and I’ll clarify again: I respect Coach [Nate] Oats and his staff and recognize in sports sometimes things like this happen. I just didn’t agree with the choice.
I’m from Tupelo, Mississippi and the next game was in Starkville against Mississippi State. I wanted to wear something fun to that game. I had a sequined jacket with a bulldog X’d out. Since we were under so much scrutiny, my husband said, “You know, Meka, it may not be a good idea to wear that going in their town.” I said: “I’m a Mississippian native, it’s different for me.” But I agreed not to wear it. Instead, I had a shirt made that said: Mark 12: 36.
People asked me what it meant, but I wanted them to look it up. I literally had the shirt made just because of the scrutiny we were under. I was just standing on my faith. People thought it was Mark my son, but it was a faith nugget: “David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.’”
After the game, the athletic director, Greg Byrne, came up to us and hugged me. He said he appreciated our family. That was big; that was respectful.
Now, as we start the SEC and NCAA tournaments, my spirit has joy. We’ve received more love than we knew could manifest from the game. I believe God has redeemed us. It’s a bittersweet time because this is Mark’s final run with Alabama. Somebody asked me: Are you going to cry? Cry for what? Maybe had I not been so scrutinized I probably would have. It’s not something to cry about when you trust God for your next move.
That’s why my faith is so important, because that’s where my strength comes from. That’s where my joy comes from. It’s so hard to not respond to the negativity. So, I’m practicing—I’m not great yet but still practicing not looking at it because when I look at it, I feel compelled to react. It’s just better to allow myself not to read the garbage.
God gets His glory. He chooses how. He chooses the time. My hope is to inspire, to shed positivity and hope.
