As Todd Palmer told his fellow athletic directors Wednesday about how excited he was to watch his daughter make her way to the Sweet 16 in Portland, Oregon, he had to share some less happy news as well.

Since the Sturgis Brown High School athletic director had been to see Sydney and the Jackrabbits play Syracuse already, he didn't feel like he could take the time to get away from work and family again, and even then there was the financial aspect to consider.

He'd discussed it with Sydney, who understood the decision — he'd seen the Syracuse game not wanting to assume the Jacks would reach the Sweet 16. She knew he'd be there if he could.

But he couldn't, he said. His colleagues empathized with him and expressed their sorrow.

Then Palmer left the room, and the money started piling up on the table.

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Later that day — gathered together for the annual meeting of the South Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association — Palmer was called to stand up.

With his mother and oldest daughter joining on FaceTime (Sydney was in flight to Portland at the time), he was presented with a plane ticket to Portland, his hotel accommodations and spending money for his time in the city.

"It just floored me," Palmer said. "I was overwhelmed, it was a flood of emotions."

The SDIAAA tweeted out the surprise saying: "We don't agree on everything, but tonight we unified to (donate) $ to send our colleague, Todd Palmer, to Portland to watch his daughter play for SDSU in the sweet 16."

Now, as Palmer packs for a trip to see the Jacks play Oregon (and hopefully, he says, either Mississippi State or Arizona State on Sunday), he's more focused on what it means to Sydney.

"As a parent you're just so happy for your daughter to be able to experience something like this," Palmer said.

"This has been a dream of hers ever since she started dribbling a basketball. Being able to be there and watch your daughter have those dreams come true ... it's a priceless memory."

The trip was a surprise to Sydney as well, who was initially unclear on why her aunt kept asking what hotel she was staying at — until her aunt called and explained. "I was just kind of overwhelmed with joy," she said.



She went to check with SDSU coach Aaron Johnston to see if her father would be able to get a ticket. "I was just in tears because people are so good."



"It was a touching story, but it's not all that surprising, either," said Johnston, who said he'd met Palmer nearly 20 years ago at a basketball camp, "because a lot of those people that pitched in are equally great people, just like Todd is."

Jordan Bauer, Rapid City Central High School's athletic director, was one of the people who worked to make the trip possible.

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"I knew (Palmer's) sister was a travel agent," Bauer said, "so I did a little recon work and found her online."

The group also called Sturgis Brown Principal Pete Wilson to make sure Palmer would be cleared to leave, and they let Sydney know about their plans.

They planned to present the money to him after an event celebrating retired athletic directors, Bauer said, but at 6 p.m. they were still about $100 short.

They made up an excuse about checking some A/V equipment and got him out of the room, and made an announcement to the crowd.

"In a matter of three minutes," Bauer said, "I had $850 in my hand."

In all, the group raised $1,900 for Palmer.

"We're all parents," Bauer said. "We know where we'd all want to be. We didn’t want him to look back and regret not being able to experience it with Sydney.”

And to Palmer, this story is really about a group of colleagues who didn't only have that thought, but acted on it.

"The quality of people in these positions was demonstrated yesterday," Palmer said. "That’s where it gets hard to put into words."

ABOUT THE GAME

What: No. 6 SDSU (28-6) vs. No. 2 Oregon (31-4)

When: 10:30 p.m. CT in Portland, Oregon

TV: ESPN2 or WatchESPN.com

Online: Live blog with updates from the game, with photos and analysis, at argusleader.com

In print: Because of the late start, game coverage and analysis will be in Sunday's edition.