MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Nick saw the dark circles under his eyes that never went away, noticed how he struggled down basketball courts he used to cover in a sprint and how he had to rest on the exam table when his pediatrician took his mother outside to talk.
In the car, the high school freshman closed his eyes during a ride with mom until she went over a speed bump.
He looked up to see St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and asked: “Do I have cancer?”
The 14-year-old did indeed have cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia specifically. The treatment a decade ago that kept him alive also ended the Division I prospect’s hopes of playing for his hometown Memphis Tigers or anywhere else.
On Tuesday, Memphis will play a basketball doubleheader exhibition that Nick helped inspire. The Tigers host No. 9 North Carolina at FedExForum followed by the women playing defending national champion South Carolina in the Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic.
It’s something of a birthday celebration for Nick, who turns 25 that day, but it’s a lot more than that.
The event is a fundraiser for a hospital dedicated to caring for children and it’s not the only one of its kind. College basketball teams used to scrimmage behind closed doors for years but NCAA rule changes now allow Division I teams to schedule exhibitions where 100% of ticket proceeds can go to a specific charity.
No. 12 Tennessee, the reigning Southeastern Conference champion, hosts Indiana on Oct. 27 with money going to the John McLendon Foundation, which provides scholarship support to minority graduate students pursuing a career in athletics administration. John Calipari’s debut at Arkansas comes Oct. 25 against Kansas, with ticket sales split between Fore the Kids Foundation in Kansas and Arkansas Children’s Hospitals.
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis played against Memphis coach Penny Hardaway in the NBA and the two friends have talked about pitting their teams against each other. Davis’s mother died of cancer.
“To be able to serve together was something that was a no brainer for both of us, and I’m really excited about the opportunity,” Davis said.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley had been trying to schedule a regular-season game with Memphis coach Alex Simmons. The Gamecocks, with three national titles since 2017, are booked with no chance at a return game for a couple more years. Staley said Simmons was kind enough to agree to an exhibition.
“I just got a St. Jude envelope in the mail. I’ve given to St. Jude,” Staley said. “This way, we’ll have hospital visits to meet the people who take care of the families and children. The need is quite remarkable and one I want my players to experience.”
This doubleheader is the first step toward what Richard Shadyac Jr. hopes will become an annual event. The president and CEO of ALSAC, St. Jude’s fundraising and awareness organization, said cancer is the leading disease killing children in the U.S.
The survival rate for children diagnosed in low-income countries is worse, and an estimated 400,000 children get cancer each year. That’s why St. Jude wants to help get cancer medications to more than 120,000 children in 50 countries in a five-year span as part of its mission.
“It’s fundraising events like this, awareness events like this that allows us to set those bold and audacious goals,” Shadyac said.
Nick’s father rushed from Midnight Madness with Memphis on the night of Oct. 15, 1999, for his birth and sped from his job coaching a Memphis high school when his wife called him to meet them at St. Jude in 2014.
For Paris and Tangela, the diagnosis for their son — asked that he be identified only by his first name — meant their world had been turned upside down. Luckily, Paris said, everyone at St. Jude was clear in detailing what Nick faced along with the cure rate.
The best part? Not one single bill, allowing the family to focus on helping Nick fight.
“Having the things that St. Jude offered gave us the ability to be able to focus on him and to also focus on ourselves, make sure we was as strong as we needed to be to help him through the process,” Paris said.
For Nick, the treatments took away the gym that had been his outlet to work out his emotions. He started writing to deal with his anger. Other St. Jude patients draw or paint. Hearing Nick try to create a beat, someone at St. Jude put an iPad in his hand and he later bought a $15 microphone.
Music replaced basketball as his new passion, and his latest album, “Concrete Dreams,” came out in October 2022.
The fundraiser is the result of Nick talking with the Memphis men’s basketball team last December.
Memphis’ close-knit basketball community knew Nick had gone through something. His father played for the Tigers and his son’s experience brought home the inspiring work done at the world-renowned hospital.
“It definitely put a face to the cause and a voice to something that they’ve known about, but now they actually get to experience it and feel those emotions,” Nick said.
The family’s basketball dreams now rest with his younger brother, Paris III. Nick, his father and brother will be at the doubleheader and the hope is that the fundraiser will continue for years to come.
What would that mean to Nick after his battle?
“It’s worth it,” Nick said.
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AP Basketball Writer Aaron Beard and AP Sports Writer Pete Iacobelli contributed to this report.
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