Audrey McDonald-Spencer joked that her wedding day was one to remember. 

The current Ball State women’s basketball associate head coach and her husband Paul had an outdoor wedding in Kokomo, Indiana, with only one major drawback: 

“An absolute monster of a storm was coming through, and we had no backup plan to be inside anywhere,” she said.

There was only a slight worry about the weather while walking up the aisle, but when she got to her husband-to-be, the worry only grew. When she looked at Paul, all she could see behind his head were the dark clouds rolling in. 

She looked at Marcia Freeman, who was officiating the ceremony, and said “You have got to be quick.”

“I think it was the shortest ceremony I’ve ever seen,” McDonald-Spencer said. “I think Marcia handled it with grace, per norm, and made it all work out. Having her be a part of that day is everything.”

They were able to squeeze in a first dance and a few other notable festivities before rain finally rolled in, but McDonald-Spencer said it was in no small part to Freeman’s help the whole day that everyone was kept cool and calm. 

But that’s who Freeman is, anything she needs to be for the people she loves.

Freeman, and her husband Joe, have been longtime supporters of all things Ball State women’s athletics for more than two decades. Marcia, a retired pastor, has officiated the weddings of 25 Cardinal couples with a 26th coming in the summer of 2024. 

Marcia said she performs about two ceremonies a year, sometimes more, and Joe will bring his camera to ceremonies to take photos of the more candid moments to give to the couple as a gift.

“I’ll do them until I go to Heaven,” Marcia joked. “As long as they ask, I love every second of it. I am a trained counselor, so I also provide their premarital counseling, and they love that, believe it or not.”

Joe and Marcia met working at Ball Corporation in downtown Muncie during a time when it was the corporation’s national headquarters. They knew of each other for a few years and were both involved in a workout group together. 

Both are Ball State graduates  — Joe in 1984 with a computer science degree while Marcia has earned a few degrees including an associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and is working toward her Ed.D. in Adult and Community Education. 

After his time at Ball Corporation, Joe returned to Ball State in the Information Technology Services department where he has been since. Marcia, who said she worked a few jobs after earning her first undergraduate degree, attended seminary before spending 23 years as a senior pastor at Blue River Valley Church of the Nazarene in Henry County, Indiana. She also worked as assistant vice president of wealth management at Old National Bank, where she retired in 2015.

The cardinal connection began for Joe and Marcia with the Cardinal Varsity Club after their two daughters moved out. Joe, who was an active Ball State fan as a student, was less involved on the administrative side while Marcia held officer positions over the years. 

“It’s what we do for fun,” Marcia said. “We don’t go to movies, we’re not big on going out to dinner. Our weekends are planned around Ball State sports.”

As part of the club, they were invited to a preseason meal with the women’s basketball team one year. There were a few parents and players at their table that day, and Marcia spent time getting to know folks and introduced them to Joe. 

Eventually, they made a connection with then-incoming head coach Tracy Roller who coached the Cardinals from 2001-2008. 

“We’ve just been in love with women’s basketball ever since,” Joe said.

Joe said there was hardly any fan support for Ball State women’s basketball at the time. As a photography hobbyist who purchased his first camera at 18 years old, he asked the staff if he could go down to the floor and shoot during games.

“These days there’s like a million people down there taking pictures, but other than maybe seeing them online [or] on one page, I’ve never seen them, I don’t know where those pictures go,” he said. “I take action photos, make 4x6 prints and I give them to the coach, and the coach passes them out to the players.”

Over the years, the couple’s impact grew outside of basketball to other women’s sports around Ball State. Marcia described their role as a “mom and dad” on campus for players. They could be a shoulder to cry on, a pastor or anything that college athletes may need.

McDonald-Spencer has known Joe and Marcia from her early years as a college student and player to her life now as a coach and mother. 

“As a young student-athlete, it was good to have somewhere to go if I needed an ear to listen to my gripes and complaints about the silliest of things to needing advice on how to deal with relationships or different things like that,” she said. “Now it’s more of a friendship where I feel like I’m giving as much as I’m taking from the relationship.”

Joe and Marcia host small groups, dinners and other events at their home for each team and focus on providing emotional support and care for student-athletes during a period of their lives that often sees the most hardships. 

“They welcomed us with open arms in terms of hosting us for dinners [and] allowing us someplace to talk about anything that was going on — whether it’s on the court,” McDonald-Spencer said.

Current women’s volleyball head coach Kelli Miller-Phillips got to know Joe and Marcia during her time as an assistant coach before succeeding Steve Shondell in 2016.

“[Marcia] is such an inviting personality and helps people feel very comfortable,” she said. “All athletes need that, especially for the women to feel like they have another person.

“She’s just a good, easy person to be able to talk to, and [she’s] always, always very supportive of me and that is something that, as a coach, you don’t always hear the positive. She’s a great friend to have as that support person.”

McDonald-Spencer, who was Marcia’s first wedding, said she now shares her friendship with Joe and Marcia with her kids who love seeing them whenever they can.

“She’s just a constant,” McDonald-Spencer said. “She’s always there for our kids. It’s been fun to see her grow and touch way more lives.”

Contact Daniel Kehn with comments daniel.kehn@bsu.edu or on X @daniel_kehn.

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