Love and basketball are taking center stage early in March Madness in a way that would make Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps, stars of the 2000 film "Love & Basketball," proud.
The love story of Alabama State Hornets guard Amarr Knox and Southern Jaguars guard DaKiyah Sanders began before March. On Feb. 6, Knox proposed to Sanders. On Valentine's Day, they announced the engagement on social media.
The newly engaged couple then etched their names in the history books with their play at the NCAA men's and women's tournaments.
On Tuesday, Knox made the game-winning shot that lifted his team over the St. Francis Red Flash. He led Alabama State with 16 points in the 70-68 First Four victory.
The win marked the historically Black university's first win in an NCAA tournament. Alabama State also became the 10th HBCU to win an NCAA tournament game and the seventh to pick up its first-ever tournament win since 2000, according to ESPN Research.
On Wednesday, Sanders dished four assists and grabbed three rebounds in Southern's 68-56 First Four win over the UC San Diego Tritons. The win marked the Jaguars' first in the women's NCAA tournament and the first for a Southwestern Athletic Conference team in the Big Dance.
The couple met at Alabama State, where Sanders spent four seasons before transferring to Southern for the 2024-25 season. Knox enrolled at Alabama State in 2022.
Knox averaged 14.4 points for Alabama State in the 2024-25 season. The Hornets' season came to an end Thursday in the round of 64 in an 83-63 loss to the top-seeded Auburn Tigers.
Southern will face the top-seeded UCLA Bruins in the first round of the women's tournament Friday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN). Sanders, a Birmingham, Alabama, native, averaged 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists for Southern in the 2024-25 season.
