Basketball season may be over, but the fight against cancer is year-round. For the past five years, both University basketball teams have participated in Coaches vs. Cancer, a national fund-raising effort founded in 1993.
Since 1990, about five million Americans have died of cancer, and the fight against cancer is expensive; the annual costs of cancer is estimated at $107 billion by the National Institutes of Health. To date, the American Cancer Society has spent $2 billion on research alone.
The Coaches vs. Cancer program not only raises funds but also cancer awareness. The program just finished its seventh season and before this year had raised more than $10.6 million for the ACS, according to ACS statistics.
After four years of participation, the Ducks and ACS have raised about $123,000, finishing in the top 25 for the past two years. Dollar figures for the 1999-2000 are not yet available.
The program began around the same time as the death of Jim Valvano, the North Carolina State University basketball coach who gained national prominence in 1983 when his Wolfpack team was the unlikely winner of the NCAA tournament.
Men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent, whose father recently died from cancer, said he thinks Valvano’s battle with cancer and eventual death drew more attention to the disease and also helped the program get started.
University of Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams spearheaded building the program after he collapsed on an airplane and was later discovered to have cancer.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, and the ACS predicts about 552,200 Americans will die this year — 1,500 people per day.
Since Kent was named head coach in April 1997, his team has participated in the program ever season. He said the organizers do a good job promoting the program and recruiting sponsors.
Each year, members of the ACS organize a “tip-off” breakfast, which both Kent and Runge attend. Guests at the breakfast are encouraged to pledge either a flat amount or a dollar figure per three-point basket made for the upcoming season. The pledge forms are available at McArthur Court and the athletic department and are distributed at local businesses, such as U-Lane-O Credit Union and U.S. Bank.
At the end of the season, the ACS bills pledgers, multiplying the number of three-point baskets the sponsored team made and the amount the donor pledged at the beginning of the season. This season, the women’s team scored 103 three-point baskets, and the men scored 186.
Jeanne Havercroft, who is the resource acquisition specialist for the southern region of the northwest division of the ACS, said this year’s pledges ranged from .05 cents to $2 per basket.
Though the primary function of the program at the University is to raise money, nationally the program’s goals go beyond fund raising. Coaches also raise awareness by attending summer camps and visiting classrooms.
Members of the coaches council, the governing body of Coaches vs. Cancer, serve as advocates for anti-tobacco legislation. The organization also sponsors visits with cancer patients.
Kent said he is pleased to be able to participate and help raise awareness through the program. For participating teams, the time commitment is small, Kent said. Other than attending the breakfast at the beginning of the season and keeping his players aware of the program, all the team has to do is score baskets.
“It doesn’t take much to contribute,” he said.
The money raised goes to research, education, patient care and prevention. Forty-one percent of the money ACS raises goes to community programs and cancer detection, prevention and treatment. Another 38 percent goes to research, program development and supporting services. The remaining money is spent on fund raising and management costs, according to “Point Attack Against Cancer,” an ACS brochure.
At the University, money raised by the ACS is supporting cancer research projects totaling more than $1 million. Three University researchers have earned grants from the ACS to conduct projects.
The competition for these grants is fierce. In the 1997-98 academic year, 2,325 scientists applied, and only 491 were approved and funded, according to ACS statistics.
Kent said there is also a little bit of competition between coaches. Each year at the NCAA tournament coaches boast how much their team is making.
This season Shaquala Williams and A.D. Smith led the University’s teams in three-point baskets with 53 and 55 respectively.
Havercroft said the program has only caught on recently in the West.
“It’s huge back east,” she said.
She said she hopes it will gain more prominence next year because it is a good program that anyone can participate in.
Organizers are looking ahead to next season for ways the program can gain more recognition in Oregon. Havercroft said she wants to see more student involvement and is working on ideas for competitions and other ways to let students know about the program.
Havercroft is also looking to add corporate sponsors to help cover the administrative and promotional costs of running the program at the University.
One tentative idea is to have “3” printed on cards and distributed to fans. Each time the Ducks score a three-point basket, the fans would hold up the signs. Printed on the back would be information on how to get involved with the Coaches vs. Cancer program.
“In one way or another, cancer touches all our lives,” women’s coach Jody Runge said in an ACS brochure. “Coaches vs. Cancer provides an exciting opportunity to support the American Cancer Society in raising much needed money.”