A video of former Baylor School star Reggie Upshaw's senior night at Middle Tennessee State quickly has become one of the biggest social media highlights of the entire college basketball season.
If you've missed it, merely Google "Reggie Upshaw Senior Night" and prepare to grab a tissue or three. Because anyone who can't cry a river over the senior forward's shocked and tearful reaction to being surprised by his little brother Gage during last Saturday's ceremony doesn't have a pulse or a soul.
"My teammates already knew, so I guess I was the only one left in the dark about that, and I don't really like surprises," the elder Upshaw said this week on the school's website. "But to see him fly in from being at school - I haven't seen him since Christmas - it was a special moment."
Though both brothers are one-time Baylor Red Raiders, Gage is spending a year at the Air Force Academy's prep school before becoming a full-fledged cadet next school year. Due to service academy restrictions, no one in the Upshaw family was sure Gage would be allowed to leave campus until sometime in February.
"Very emotional," said Reggie Upshaw Sr., who played football at MTSU after an outstanding prep career at Red Bank High School.
"It was bittersweet," said Sabrina Upshaw, the boys' mother. "Gage had wanted to do this for his brother since last summer. They're very close. The one thing I know I've done right in my life is my two boys."
Yet however much his family's eyes water over Reggie Jr.'s stellar career winding down for the streaking Blue Raiders - Saturday's 93-59 rout of Florida Atlantic was their 17th win in 18 games and their 27th in 31 total games heading into this week's Conference USA tourney in Birmingham - Middle coach Kermit Davis's tears won't be far behind.
"Reggie's going to go down as one of the very best players in the history of our school," Davis said. "But he's a better person. I don't think he's been late for one class since he's been here. Nobody's more involved with special-needs kids than Reggie. His character is as good as anybody I've ever coached.
"At least once a week I hear somebody say, 'I saw Reggie out at Wal-Mart,' or "I saw Reggie at a restaurant,' and it's always followed by, 'He's one of the nicest people I've ever met.'"
He's also put together one of the nicest careers in MTSU history. He's averaging 14.1 points and 6.8 rebounds a game this season. He scored a career-high 34 against UAB on New Year's Day, then saved his teammates 10 days ago at UAB by scoring a team-high 19 points and knocking down three of four 3-pointers, including two in the final five minutes to make Middle a 66-64 winner after trailing by three late.
Beyond that, Upshaw leads MTSU in career games played (135) and started (110) and also ranks top 10 all-time in points (1,486), field goals made (566), rebounds (875), steals (147), blocks (106), double-doubles (19) and minutes played (3,769). Upshaw is one of just three active players nationally with career totals of 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 200 assists, 100 steals and 100 blocks.
And where did such basketball versatility come from?
"(Baylor) Coach (Austin) Clark did a lot to help me put my game on display when I was in high school," said the 6-foot-8, 228-pound Upshaw. "He'd let me bring the ball down the court. I always knew I didn't have a true post-player kind of game, and he let me show that."
Clark admitted, "We didn't try to pigeonhole him as an inside player," but he was also quick to add, "Reggie made himself into a diamond. He always had potential, but a lot of people have potential and don't do anything with it."
Davis said what Upshaw has done best is put MTSU on the basketball map with his sterling 21-point performance in last year's stunning NCAA tournament win over second-seeded Michigan State.
"Just the national branding over that one game," Davis said. "It's helped recruiting. If we walk through an airport, people recognize our players. People give our program more credit. Everybody remembers Reggie's dunk at the end, but the free throws he hit down the stretch were just as big."
Said Upshaw of the last of those free throws, the one that basically guaranteed the 90-81 triumph: "My hands were sweating and my knees were shaking, but I just kept telling myself, 'You just need to make one.'"
Such toughness and goodness aren't lost on his teammates. Wrote Blue Raiders senior JaCorey Williams, the likely C-USA player of the year, in an email this week: "On the court he is vocal and works hard every single day to get better. Off the court you never hear about Reggie getting in trouble and he has always done the right things academically. He is the perfect example of a leader on and off the court."
Where that leader goes from here is anyone's guess. Coveted by college football coaches as a tight end coming out of Baylor, Upshaw admits that if basketball doesn't work out at the next level, he'd be open to trying football again.
"If someone asked me to try out (for the NFL) I'd definitely consider it," said Upshaw, whose lone tattoo regarding his time at Baylor is a No. 7, which was his football number.
But whatever happens from this point forward, whether MTSU returns to March Madness or has its heart broken by failing to repeat as conference tourney champ in a one-bid league, his high school hoops coach believes his legacy is secure.
"Reggie's the epitome," Clark said, "of what you like to see young athletes become."
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.