As soon as I tweeted that I wanted to do something for him, all of Cougar nation immediately responded, wanting to help out as well. – Derik Stevenson

PROVO — The usual big donors, top administrators and even current Utah Jazz players, Dante Exum and Joe Ingles, were in attendance to watch BYU take on Saint Mary's on Thursday. But as far as the Marriott Center home crowd was concerned, the most important attendee was 7-year-old BYU fan Spencer Cloward.

Spencer was given the royal treatment in every way before and during the game.

He received a full tour of the athletic facilities and even got to put his feet up on new BYU football coach Kalani Sitake's desk. He spent time chatting with Cougar Athletic Director Tom Holmoe, along with BYU announcers Greg Wrubell and Mark Durrant and was even shown on the Jumbotron.

So why all the VIP access? Well, it started with an image put out by the University of Utah's Twitter account.

In the image, Spencer, who is a first-grader at Lone Peak Elementary School in Sandy, is shown at an assembly where the majority of his classmates are shown making the "U" sign with their hands.

But certainly not Spencer.

Spencer is shown sitting in the periphery, wearing a BYU shirt while holding his hands down, as if in protest. The Utah Twitter account provided the caption, "To the kid reppin' Y amidst at the U's, you be you. The state would be lesser off without some blue."

The image quickly got circulated on Twitter and eventually caught the notice of former BYU football player Derik Stevenson, who immediately took action.

"I just sympathized with the kid. BYU has had a couple of tough years, but he's hanging strong," Stevenson said. "He's not going to give up on his team, so I wanted to work to reward him."

Stevenson has daughters who attend the same school and he worked to get in touch with the BYU Twitter hero.

"As soon as I tweeted that I wanted to do something for him, all of Cougar nation immediately responded, wanting to help out as well," Stevenson said. "People gave him tickets, sent him gift cards so he could buy more BYU gear — it's just been awesome for the kid and I'm so happy to just be a part of it."

The red carpet was rolled out for Spencer a few hours before Thursday's game and started with a tour of the athletic building where he got to meet the new football coaching staff and several of the players.

"This is so fun for him and he's been so excited for this day," said Spencer's father, David Cloward. "There's been a lot of great people reaching out and what all of them, along with Derik, have done — it's just been so great for Spencer and really for all of us."

As for Spencer, the entire event is sure to be something he won't soon forget. As for the what he enjoyed most about Thursday's royal blue treatment, he responded excitedly, "Everything."

Email: bgurney@desnews.com

Twitter: @BrandonCGurney