So Erin Andrews excites campuses with her presence, does she?
Man, you haven't seen anything yet.
"Should I paint my face?" Marisa Miller asked by phone, at which point I recommended -- on behalf of heterosexuals everywhere, particularly those in Knoxville, Tenn., -- that she do nothing to hide, disguise or otherwise alter her natural self. After all, it's not everyday that a Victoria's Secret Angel attends a college basketball game; far as I know, this is the first. So get ready, Thompson-Boling Arena, because America's Supermodel and the World's Hottest Woman (according to Maxim ) will be in attendance Wednesd
ay night when the Tennessee Vols host LSU.
"This is a special trip," Miller said Tuesday, shortly after arriving in Knoxville. "It's really exciting for me to be here."
Now I know what you're thinking.
What the hell is Marisa Miller doing at a UT game?
The story dates to last January, when Griffin Guess -- a music producer and manager of artists and models -- was invited to speak at Brewster Academy, a boarding school two hours north of Boston from which Guess graduated in 1998. For those unfamiliar, Guess and Miller are married. So the couple traveled from their California home across the country to New Hampshire, where they met a Brewster Academy basketball player named Emmanuel Negedu.
"Griffin and him hit it off right away," Miller said. "It was just sort of a natural relationship that developed."
Guess was intrigued by the story, how Negedu left Nigeria for the United States to pursue a dream. He invited the 6-foot-7 forward to California to shoot some videos as he announced his decision to attend Tennessee instead of Indiana, Georgia Tech and Memphis, and Guess promised he'd make it to campus for a game at some point this season. Of course, that's hard to do given that there's always something going on. Miller was in St. Bart's last week for a shoot, and the couple had to be in Washington D.C. on Monday for another project.
"But I just sort of looked at the schedule and said, 'Let's go down there,'" Guess explained. "I said, 'Let's finally make it over to Knoxville,' because if we didn't go now I wasn't sure when we were going to go."
Thus, Griffin Guess and Marisa Miller are in Knoxville.
They reunited with Negedu on Tuesday night.
"It was really great to see him," Guess said. "I think he's grown about an inch and put on 10 pounds. He looks good."
Speaking of looking good, did I mention Marisa Miller will be at Thompson-Boling Arena tonight? The former basketball player -- "I used to play in school," she said. "I was a guard." -- can't wait to get there (face unpainted, I hope) to support Negedu while trying to help Tennessee improve to 4-1 in the SEC, if only by serving as a distraction to LSU's Marcus Thornton.
"I think the atmosphere will be exciting," Miller said. "I just hope I don't embarrass Emmanuel by cheering too loudly."
Somehow, I don't think that'll be a problem.
Because if Negedu can't handle a supermodel screaming his name, that's on him.
