Big 5 coaches showcase ‘unique’ connection at Coaches vs. Cancer gathering
Women's coaches participated for the first time as well. "A little late, but we'll take it," said West Chester women's coach Dierdre Kane.
Everyone has someone in their life who was affected by cancer.
That was the idea around Coaches vs. Cancer, a national collaborative effort between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Philadelphia chapter, founded by Big 5 stalwarts Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli, has raised over $23 million since 1996.
On Thursday, a day dominated by the announcement that the Big 5 men’s basketball programs would move forward with a round robin that does not include Villanova, the city’s coaches gathered for a luncheon at the Sixth Man Center in North Philadelphia for a greater good.
For the first time, the city’s women’s coaches were invited to speak on the luncheon’s panel alongside the men’s coaches. Ticket proceeds benefit the chapter’s mission.
“I think the most important thing is that it is unique to Philadelphia,” St. Joseph’s coach Steve Donahue said. “No other city can bring their teams together for any kind of charity. It’s such a great charity, Coaches vs. Cancer. It started with Fran Dunphy and Phil Martelli, and it’s grown into an incredible event. And it’s all about the people that come out and support it. And Philly’s been incredibly supportive. Just speaks volumes to the type of people in our city.”
» READ MORE: Former and current Big 5 coaches express disappointment in Villanova’s exit from men’s format
During Thursday’s panel, La Salle women’s coach Mountain MacGillivray expressed gratitude for the clinical research made possible by organizations like Coaches vs. Cancer. MacGillivray’s daughter Emily was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common childhood cancer, as a toddler.
“My daughter, a 7-year-old, Emily, was battling cancer,” MacGillivray said. “She went through the normal treatment for leukemia and rang the bell. Then, within the prescribed time, cancer returned.”
Emily did not qualify for CAR T-cell therapy, so it seemed she would have to undergo a bone marrow transport, MacGillivray said. However, the doctors offered the MacGillivrays an opportunity to be a part of a clinical study to treat Emily’s cancer. They accepted.
“We did that and Emily is cancer-free,” MacGillivray said. “So I share that because you’re, in part, responsible for that. Because without the funding, without the doctors at Penn and CHOP, who did the groundbreaking research that allowed her to be part of that.”
During the panel, NBC Sports Philadelphia reporter and event emcee Amy Fadool prompted the audience to fill out signs with the names of their loved ones affected by cancer. Afterward, she instructed the attendees to raise the signs in the air. Not one hand remained down.
Donahue was thinking about his “backcourt mate” Bob Nelson. Donahue, 64, played basketball alongside Nelson at Cardinal O’Hara High School. Nelson passed away from the disease in his mid-30s.
“I always thought of cancer as an old person’s thing,” Donahue said. “So naive at that age … I just think now, I think the same person gets that diagnosis, the research and all the things that have gone into it, the prognosis is way better because of events like this.”
Former West Chester women’s coach Deirdre Kane, the school’s all-time winningest basketball coach, was presented the Champions Award. Through the years, Kane has played a pivotal role in planning the Philadelphia chapter’s annual Philly Golf Classic.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be a champion for this cause,” Kane said. “It’s also very special today because all the women’s coaches are here. A little late, but we’ll take it. And it’s also very special to me because I learned to play in the Philadelphia Department of Recreation, everything that I learned growing up in South Philly.”
