INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - While Tyler Lewis played his final game at Hinkle Fieldhouse March 4, Ali Burgess cheered in the stands wearing a Butler Bulldogs basketball number one jersey. Tyler wears number one. Ali has supported Tyler since high school.
"She knows how much basketball means to me,” said Lewis in a postgame interview on his Senior Day. “She wants it just as much as I do, but she doesn't get mad at all about basketball. If I have a bad game, she's like 'Oh, where we going to dinner?"
“If he wants to talk about it, I'm there for him,” said Burgess in a pregame interview at Hinkle Fieldhouse. “I played basketball in high school, so I definitely know the game. I'm just more of a listener when it comes to basketball. If he doesn't want to talk about it, I don't bring it up because that already consumes his life so much that I just try to focus on the things that surround him that aren't basketball, because he's so much more.”
Tyler and Ali started dating seriously in high school in Statesville, North Carolina. They went to Chick-fil-A on their first date. Ali ordered a kids meal and Tyler bought. But their relationship began long before that.
“Tyler and I actually met in middle school and we dated in 7th grade for two weeks,” said Burgess. He was my first ever Valentine."
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"I saw a blonde haired girl and she caught my eye,” said Lewis. “From there we actually dated in middle school for a little bit."
Ali moved to Indianapolis a year and a half ago to be close to Tyler as he finished his college career at Butler. She joined Tyler's parents and his sister at center court during Senior Day postgame ceremonies.
"This is a special place,” Lewis told fans over the public address system. “The Butler Way and this Butler community just changed my life for the better."
Lewis’ last words at Hinkle Fieldhouse were not the most important words he ever said at center court. Last summer, Tyler brought Ali to center court for an even bigger occasion. He reserved Hinkle Fieldhouse for an elaborately-prepared marriage proposal.
“She knew that it was coming sometime last summer,” said Lewis. “But I don't think she had a lot of confidence in how good it was going to be. She said it took her by surprise and she didn't think I had what it takes to pull out a great surprise."
On June 24, Tyler took Ali to dinner in downtown Indianapolis and then made up an excuse to stop by Hinkle Fieldhouse. As they walked to center court, a music video with photos of the couple played on the video scoreboard. At 8:12 p.m. Tyler kneeled and asked Ali to be his wife. Tyler had arranged a video crew and photographers to capture the moment.
“It was a huge surprise,” said Burgiss. “When he told me how much time he put into it and all that he had planned, it was so special. I couldn't imagine anything better. Like how cool is it to be proposed to in a place where 10,000 people sit all the time? But it's just you two and it's something that's so special to him and such a historic place."
In his final season at Butler, being at Hinkle Fieldhouse became even more special to Tyler.
“This place is so amazing,” said Lewis. “Literally, it's magic every time you get in here. It's interesting to go out there like, 'Man, I proposed to my future wife out here.' No other person on the team or coaches can relate to that. That's a memory that me and her are going to have for a lifetime."
Tyler wants to become a college basketball coach after his playing days end. He says Ali will make a great coach’s wife.
“She’s very competitive and I love that about her, because I'm very competitive as well. The only time she gets mad is when I beat her at like little games.”
“Tyler is the sweetest person ever,” said Burgess. “I tell him this all time. One of his greatest qualities is patience. He is just the perfect balance to me in our lives. He loves Jesus. He loves family. He always puts me first.”
Tyler has played his last game at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Ali is planning a June 10 wedding for 350 people at the church in North Carolina where she grew up. Tyler’s former Butler teammate Kellen Dunham and fellow senior Steve Bennett are among the groomsmen.
Basketball is not part of the wedding ceremony, but this couple’s hearts will always be at center court at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
