The University of Mississippi Athletics
Weathersby's Share Special Story
4/21/2015 | Student-Athlete Development
By Austin Miller, OleMissSports.com
Scott Weathersby and Rachael Weathersby are unique in more ways than one.
They're married student-athletes competing at the highest level of college athletics, Scott in baseball and Rachael in volleyball. Scott helped the baseball team reach the College World Series for the fifth time in program history and the first time since 1972, while Rachael helped the volleyball finish with a 22-10 record, the most wins in program history since 2007.
Captains on their respective teams, Scott and Rachael have been leaders between the lines, in the classroom and in the community. They shared the stage at the 2014 Rebels' Choice Awards receiving the men's and women's community service outreach awards, and now they share the distinguished honor of being nominated for the H. Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship, presented by the Southeastern Conference to the league's top male and female student-athletes.
"Our first year of marriage has been a lot different than what a lot of people's first year of marriage would be," Rachael said. "We're both really busy. We both have a full-time academic schedule and full-time athletic schedule, but it's helped us grow a lot closer as a married couple. Knowing that people know our name has also reminded us each and every time to live in a way that is glorifying to God, and we want our marriage to show that to other people."
Fittingly, they met in a Spanish tutoring session during Scott's second year and Rachael's first year, although admittedly, they said neither of them really needed the tutor.
"We had that class for a whole year, so the second semester he asked me if I wanted to study for a test, and I said, `Sure, I guess, whatever,'" Rachael recalled. "He said that he really needed help with Spanish and that I was good at it. We met up at the library on campus and we never cracked a textbook. We just started talking and realized we had so much in common. He actually ended up beating me on the test. He didn't really need to study. He just wanted to hang out.
"After that, we started becoming really good friends throughout that spring semester and that summer, hanging out and getting to know each other. That summer, he went back to Texas with me to meet my family, and while he was there, he talked to my family about dating me. He surprised me a few months later asking me to be his girlfriend when I was in preseason for volleyball. I was so surprised because he was on summer break still and he wasn't supposed to be back in Oxford."
Their shared experience, in all the aspects of their lives, drew them to one another and has helped them grow together. They dated for a year and a couple of months, before tying the knot on July 5, 2014 at Rachael's grandparents' farm in Texas with teammates from both teams in attendance.
"First and foremost, it was our faith," said Scott of what drew him to Rachael. "That's the first thing I noticed about Rachael, how much she valued and loved the Lord. For me, in dating and hanging out with people, I'm drawn to people who value other people before themselves, and that was Rachael as well. One of the first times we hung out, I saw that in one of her friends calling her. Rachael had a deep heart to help people as well. That's something we're going to carry for the rest of our lives."
"When I finally got to know Scott, he was a breath of fresh air," added Rachael. "There's a different side to being a student-athlete. It can be really hard and it can really take a toll on you emotionally, physically and spiritually, especially when you're traveling and trying to keep up your grades and keep growing in your faith. He was the first guy I had met that was really, truly living out his faith. He was succeeding in the classroom and he was fun to be around. He became my best friend and somebody I could talk to, and we could lift each other up."
Scott was a fixture at volleyball matches in the fall, and Rachael has been the same way at baseball games this spring. She's also been able to travel and see some of the away games, too. Most notably, Rachael wore her new last name on her jersey in the fall.
"The background on my phone is the first time she got her name changed on her jersey," Scott said. "For me, that was really cool to see."
"A lot of people have thought we were brother and sister," Rachael said. "At Meet the Rebels in the fall, people said that I must have a brother on the baseball team, and I said, `No, we're married and I have a husband on the baseball team.' There have been a few funny stories like that, but it's been really cool, especially me getting to wear his name on my jersey. That was really fun and I'm really glad that I got to do that my last season. It made it a lot more special."
In the weeks and months to come, they will have a better sense for what their future holds. Rachael, Scott said, laughing, is a little more stable than him in this regard.
Scott is in wait-and-see mode, trying to enjoy the present moment because this may or may not be the last time he ever plays baseball, depending on the outcome of the MLB Draft on June 8-10. Scott does know that he will serve as an intern with the Ole Miss Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Studying for the MCAT exam, retaking the exam and reapplying to medical school is another future option for him.
"It's trying to understand what comes next, but also enjoying the time that we have because this is a special time in both of our lives that we can be a married couple in college supporting one another," Scott said. "I know that we'll never get it back so I don't want to regret looking too far ahead."
Rachael was recently accepted into the University of Mississippi School of Nursing's Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree program, a 12-month nursing school program, where she will take classes and do clinical work, and then start working as a resident nurse. Eventually she hopes to become a nurse practitioner.
"This is such amazing seasons in our lives, and nothing will ever compare to it, so we have been trying to enjoy every minute of it, enjoy every game and every practice," Rachael said. "I know for Scott it can be a grind being on the road all the time and having tests, midterms and finals, but he's done an amazing job of giving everything he has every day to the sport and to his teammates to build those relationships. Wins and losses come and go, but the relationships that you build on your team last a lifetime, and each of us really valued that in our senior years."
Austin Miller is a writer and blogger for OleMissSports.com. He joined the staff in June 2013 after serving as sports editor of the Daily Mississippian. Follow him on Twitter @austinkmiller.
