Amanda Michaelis’ laugh reverberates through the phone.
“Oh, I’m sure he gets teased about it,” she said.
She then pauses, laughs again, and continues.
“Seriously, Mark is a wonderful person, and it’s so nice to have someone like that in my life,” she said. “I think being married has been a good thing for him as far as basketball goes. It has made this experience so fun.”
No jokes from teammates could change the way Oregon senior Mark Michaelis and fellow senior Ben Lindquist feel about being married to their respective best friends. Michaelis married Amanda in the summer of 1999, while Lindquist married his wife, Joy, the following summer.
Lindquist, known as the team’s jokester, said it’s never too hard to find a stinging comeback if one of his teammates does attempt to tease him.
“There will be a few guys that try to throw a few jokes my way, but I’m pretty quick to either get them back or raise an interesting point about their social life,” Lindquist said.
For these two seniors, this weekend marks their final two games at McArthur Court. And while they both admit that it has been tough not playing as much they’d like, they enjoy just being a part of this team.
Plus, they’re glad that they’ve had somebody to share the experience with — especially since both Amanda and Joy have played basketball in the past and understand the pressures of an athlete.
“My wife does a great job of supporting me,” Michaelis said. “It’s been wonderful. We have a pretty good conversation after each game. She tells me things I don’t do right, but she does it lovingly.
“I can’t imagine playing college ball without being married.”
As for Lindquist, he could have easily been frustrated after seeing his minutes slowly decrease through the years. During his sophomore season, he played in 23 games and then saw action in 26 of 28 games as a junior. This season, though, he’s averaging just over nine minutes per game in 15 appearances.
“As a player, you can’t be content with not playing, because if you’re that way then you probably don’t deserve to be there,” Lindquist said. “But we’re in a great position right now as a team and I don’t understand how anyone can complain about it.”
Lindquist cites his marriage as one of the main reasons for the positive attitude he’s kept.
“If I wasn’t married and in this same situation, I might not handle it the same way,” he said. “It’s helped me be more unselfish. You have to realize that there’s two people in your marriage and you have to give up some of yourself. That’s closely related to basketball. You have to think about the other guys and the goals of the team.”
Oregon head coach Ernie Kent has noticed the sacrifices that both Lindquist and Michaelis have had to take. Kent credits them with adding “character balance” to the Ducks and values their leadership and team-first mentality.

“Because of their backgrounds and that they’re married, it has matured them beyond their years,” Kent said. “They’re going to be extremely successful in life. It’s extremely tough for anybody to sit on the bench and it’s tough for a coach to look down there and see them sitting.
“But they may still have the opportunity to help us win some games and get into that postseason tournament, which is a reward for everybody.”
Lindquist remembers well the feeling of being a part of Oregon’s 2000 NCAA Tournament team. Michaelis also has fond memories of that team, but he wasn’t able to participate as he was sitting out the mandatory one year after transferring from Brigham Young.
Now, they’d love to end their careers as Pac-10 champs and have their final games come in the Big Dance.
“This is an exciting time,” Lindquist said. “All I care about is getting that big fat ring for the conference championship.”
When the season does come to an end, both Michaelis and Lindquist will gracefully move into the next phase of their lives. Michaelis and Amanda aren’t sure where they’ll end up, but they wouldn’t mind staying in Oregon.
“We just love Eugene,” said Amanda, who works for a local accounting firm. “My favorite part is all the support this community has for the team.”
Lindquist hopes to land an internship with Nike in Portland, but foresees that he and Joy may move back to their hometown of St. George, Utah, where they met while in high school.
“I look back on my time here and I’ve certainly come a long ways, not just basketball-wise, but off the court,” Lindquist said. “I’ll always cherish these years and have a great deal of appreciation for it.”
Said Michaelis: “It’s been an honor to play here.”
And they both feel fortunate to have had their partners in life along for the ride.