1. Columbus State Basketball Reaching Beyond the Court
COLUMBUS,Ga., Jan. 30, 2015–Lawanna Hayes tried to keep her eyes down as she
moved in and out of the church following her husband, Tony’s funeral. When she finally
looked up, they were the first things she saw. Two CSU sweaters on the backs of two
young men she and Tony had cheered on many times but never met. The two young men
were Columbus State University men’s basketball seniors Kenney Funderburk and
Shevren Keaton. They had come to thank Tony and Lawanna. “I just knew that made
everything for him,” she said.
“Please don’t send flowers, I really don’t want flowers,” Lawanna told her friends and
co-workers as she began coping with the loss. “If you want to do something, please send
money to the basketball program. [Tony] would really think that is cool.”
Originally from Mobile, Ala., Tony’s love for the game began years before he played
organized basketball. He grew up playing street ball and when he was 14 years old, he
moved to Columbus where he played for Kendrick High School under coach Murphy
Jenkins. After high school, Hayes joined the military where he continued to play pickup
games on post at Fort Benning.
While his days of playing competitively were over, his passion for basketball never
faded. When Lawanna and Tony married, one of their first vacations was to Chicago,
home to Tony’s all time favorite player, Michael Jordan.
“[We] jumped out of the car really quickly because we were trespassing, took a picture in
front of his gate with the big 23 on it and jumped back in the car and drove away,”
laughed Lawanna.
Lawanna had a long-standing relationship as an employee at Columbus State. She wanted
to do something fun with Tony and asked if he would want to watch a CSU basketball

2. game. And as they say, the rest is history. Tony was hooked and the couple attended
games ever since.
At every home game, Tony and Lawanna grabbed their lucky spots in the Lumpkin
Center. Despite the Hayes’ regular attendance, Lawanna was never certain the players
actually knew who Tony was.
“You know, you’d like to think oh yeah, everybody knows me,” she said. And as loyal
fans, we know exactly what Lawanna meant. There lies a hope deep down in every fan’s
heart that the stars on the court recognize us in the stands.
As it turns out, the team knew Tony.
“He sat in the same seat at every game, in the same section,” Kenney Funderburk
recalled. “I could point him out.”
After some games, Tony hung around the arena and talked with CSU head men’s
basketball coach Robert Moore, who joined the Cougars in 2010.
Earlier this month, Tony Hayes passed away following aggressive treatment of stage 3
Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Tony beat the cancer but treatment weakened his immune system.
He passed peacefully in his sleep after developing a severe upper respiratory infection on
Jan. 7.
Back in the Lumpkin Center, Coach Moore pulled the team together. With sadness, he
shared the news. The team lost a great friend and fan. But there was still something to be
celebrated. While enduring great loss, Lawanna Hayes turned sadness into support for the
team. She asked that friends donate money to the basketball program instead of
purchasing flowers or gifts for her family.
The news was puzzling for some of the players. “When there's a death you never would
have donated money instead of getting flowers,” said a surprised Funderburk. But the
message rang loud and clear. The coaches and players were extremely honored. Even
though the players knew Tony as a regular fan, they had no idea he cared so deeply.
What’s unique about sports and tragedy is each has the ability to bring us together. The
relationships and affections we develop in our arenas, or on our playing fields, serve a
greater purpose. They unite us all: fans, players and coaches. Sometimes as fans, we
forget how much the players love us back.
“Our guys feel like if anybody cares about us we're going to care about them,” explained
Moore.
They didn’t know Tony personally but they felt his love from afar. For years, they
watched Tony lift them up from his seat in the stands, one of 4,500 in the Lumpkin
Center. Now, it was their turn to do the same.

3. Moore, Funderburk and Keaton attended Tony’s funeral on Jan. 12. When Kenney and
Shevren were asked to be pallbearers, they quickly accepted.
They knew it was the right thing to do for a man who loved them.
Following the funeral, many of Lawanna’s friends approached her about the players’ and
Coach Moore’s appearance. “I thought to myself, ‘okay good,’ that’s the way I want
people to think about CSU and our kids and our players,” Lawanna added with a smile.
“That made me really happy."
That day, Funderburk, Keaton, Coach Moore and team were reminded that basketball is
not just about the players and coaches. It’s about all of us: the fans, the community and
the university. Each of us has the ability to cheer on and lift another up.
This season Tony took notice of the Cougars' recent success. Lawanna recalled a
conversation she overheard him having with a friend, “‘You know, I think we’re going to
have a good year,’ and then it was like, ‘I think we’re going to have a really good year
this year.’”
Both men’s and women’s basketball teams are enjoying unprecedented success on the
court. The men and women have a combined 35-3 record, currently the best out of any
Division I or Division II school in the nation. Fans like Tony and Lawanna have
faithfully backed the Cougars. Neither side has lost a game in the Lumpkin Center this
season.
The Cougars will take the court again Saturday, Jan. 31 vs. Georgia Southwestern. The
ladies tip off at 1:30 p.m. and the men play at 3:30 p.m. Students, faculty and staff always
enjoy free admission with a CSU ID. Children are also free with a paying adult. Adult
tickets are $5. Both teams are well on their way to making CSU basketball history.
Tony’s loyalty and Lawanna’s bravery have inspired the men. “Just thank you,” said
Funderburk. “To know he watched us like that, he touched a lot of us. It makes us play
harder.”
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