SMU twins look to make March Madness memory with mom battling cancer

DALLAS - They've been twinning since the beginning.
From birth, Michael and Marcus Weathers have mostly been a packaged deal on and off of the basketball court.

"If he wasn't my twin we'd still be best friends," says Michael.

They're not identical in looks or personality; Michael is the jokester, the energizer.

Marcus is the laid back cool customer - a steadying force for the fearsome twosome.

"It's a ying yang thing," says Michael. "I'm ying, he's yang."

These ying yang twins are always in sync, born with an internal GPS telling them where the other one is; speaking from a shared stream of thought that allows one twin to finish the other's sentence.

This month will be the last chance for the Weathers twins to do March Madness together.
This will be the end of a long, full-circle college hoops journey, one that began for the twins by playing together at Miami-Ohio.
Then, they transfered to separate schools.
Then COVID-19 happened.
Now, they're reunited at SMU for one final season.

Long before this March, the Weathers twins have been bringing a "do-or-die" mindset to the court.
They get that spirit from their mom, JoAnn.

"We're molded from her," says Marcus. "We go out here and play hard like it's our last game. We got it from her."

For the last two years, JoAnn Loring has been battling Leukemia.

"It hurts," says JoAnn. "Just literally."

Shortly after being diagnosed during the summer of 2020, the cancer sent Loring into a coma.
The moment brought a devastating reality for her boys to face.

"That it might be her time to go," said Michael.
"I spent like three days crying," said Marcus.

On August 5th, the twins' birthday, JoAnn came back.

"I touched her and she opened her eyes," said Michael. "That just put the biggest smile on my face."

Last summer, JoAnn got a bone marrow transplant from her daughter and went into remission.
Then, the cancer came back.
She did her best to make it to a pair of SMU games this season, watching the others on TV - something she's needed and cherished...

"It just makes me forget all about that bad stuff," said Loring. "I do get a lot of energy."

JoAnn wasn't able to be at senior day or make the American Athletic Conference tournament in Fort Worth, TX, but if SMU makes the NCAA Tournament, Loring promises she'll be there.
It's a possibility that bring a big smile to her face.

"I'd just be happy to see them [play] again," said Loring. "I used to be all over the place, screaming, cheering them on. I'm like their biggest fan."

"That would be a dream come true just for the expereince for her," said her boys.

A dream, that just might come true for the Weathers boys at SMU.