While Duke softball took home an ACC tournament crown in front of a packed home crowd on Saturday afternoon, head coach Marissa Young might as well have been there for an audience of one: Her husband, James Lamar.
For around a year, Lamar has been dealing with an unspecified medical issues with his heart and cardiovascular system, and one that has required countless surgeries and procedures. He spent a portion of last spring and early summer on a ventilator before his condition improved.
And Saturday, he got to watch Duke come back for a 6-3 win over defending champion Florida State to lock up an NCAA tournament bid in his first game in person all season.
“Incredible,” Young said on the ESPN broadcast, her voice tinged with emotion. “His first game of the season that he’s been able to get out of the house and come and obviously to win a championship at home in front of the largest crowd ever is just a dream come true.”
Plus a home field celebration meant that Lamar would also be there to see the new ACC champions marker on the outfield wall that was unveiled shortly after the Blue Devils won the conference tournament.
After winning the regular season title, the program was always going to put some acknowledgement up, and now it’s ironclad as Duke won the pair of ACC titles available in 2024.
“Well we put it up for regular season,” Young said. “We knew we still had work to do for tournament champs, but that was for our regular season championship.”
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