Even in the middle of the greatest moment of his coaching career, LSU's John Brady realized somebody was missing.
As the Tigers' celebration spread over the Georgia Dome floor after beating Texas to win the Atlanta Regional on March 26 and move on to the Final Four for the first time since 1986, Brady whispered to a few of his players to go get Kent Lowe, LSU's senior associate sports information director.
If everyone else was going to experience the tradition of climbing a ladder and cutting down the net, Brady wanted Lowe there too, right where he's been every step of the last nine years.
"Coach Brady wanted him to be a part of our celebration and we completely agreed," Garrett Temple said. "He's just a great guy who does a lot for us and our team."
So, Tyrus Thomas broke away from the wild celebration and coaxed the jovial 48-year-old Lowe out of postgame press conference mode and back onto the court.
While the Tigers steadied the ladder, Lowe made his way up and snipped some nylon for the first time in his life.
"I was deliberately trying to keep my distance," said Lowe, who has spent 18 years as the LSU basketball publicist. "It was their moment. They're the stars and they made this happen. I was touched and surprised and very honored. It was a special moment for me."
Lowe has been around for some of the biggest moments in recent LSU sports history. He was a media relations aide during four of the five College World Series won by the Tigers and is a fixture at LSU home football games.
But Saturday was different. This was his team.
"I never knew if I'd get to a Final Four," said Lowe, who spent his first nine years working with Dale Brown. "I've never been because I didn't want to go until I went with my team."
Nor did he want to go without his friend.
As different as the sometimes irascible Brady and the almost always upbeat Lowe are in personality, they have forged a unique friendship during the coachs nine-year tenure.
At home games at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Lowe is always the last person Brady greets before he goes to his team's huddle.
"He's standing right there at midcourt to make sure everything is right and ready to go, so I shake hands and then go to work," Brady said.
Their pregame ritual is just a small part of a friendship that has endured some lean years and now is basking in one of the best seasons in the program's 97-year history.
"There's not a more generous, honest person I know," Brady said.
"All he wants is for our players to do well, for me to do well and for LSU to be the best it can be. He's the most unassuming, honest, good-natured person I've ever been around and he handles his position extremely well.
"Kent has been there for me when we lost some heartbreakers and tough games and he's been there when we've won some of the biggest games. When we do well, Kent is as happy as my wife, my daughters and my mother, and that's some pretty important company to me."
Brady wasn't surprised that his players were eager to include Lowe in Saturday's celebration.
"The players have a real affection for him,"he said. "For them to want him to get up and cut the net down means they consider him integral to what we've accomplished and what we still have left to do."
The feeling seems to be mutual. Lowe said this LSU team is one that he, along with most other people, will remember for years to come.
"I don't think I've ever experienced a team as tight as this group of guys," he said. "They really enjoy each other and that's certainly a huge factor in what this team has accomplished."