The UConn men’s basketball program will honor those who have been affected by cancer in Sunday’s Coaches vs. Cancer game against Xavier and is inviting spectators to participate as well.
Soon after head coach Dan Hurley was hired at the University of Rhode Island, his wife Andrea attended a wives’ brunch for Coaches vs. Cancer – a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) – at the 2012 Final Four in New Orleans, according to the Providence Journal. After that brunch Andrea, who lost her father at 52 years old in 2005 after a 17-year on-and-off battle with the disease, decided she wanted to get the Rhode Island team involved.
She wanted to get the fans involved as well, so she began creating “superhero buttons” for spectators to wear at the annual game that highlight a picture of someone who was affected by cancer. Andrea brought the tradition to Connecticut when her husband was hired as head coach in 2018 and has created the buttons every year since.
Coaches vs. Cancer is a reminder that we’re all in this together- whether you’re affected by cancer directly or indirectly, nobody fights alone.
Fans attending the game can submit a photo in advance at the link below for a premade button ready to be picked up at the game, or… pic.twitter.com/5EhYKQdnHV
— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) January 18, 2024
“It’s just a little special superhero button I thought of after our first or second year at URI,” she said in a video posted by the team last week. “It’s just a way to honor our loved ones who were affected by cancer, to have their picture displayed for everyone to see.”
The program is encouraging fans attending the Xavier game on Sunday, Jan. 28, to submit a photo of a loved one in advance and will have buttons premade and ready to be picked up at a table on the XL Center concourse before the game. Nearly 100 photos have been submitted as of Monday morning, but the program is looking for more.
The deadline for submissions (which can be made by emailing a photo to marketing@uconn.edu, including the name of the person picking up the buttons) is Thursday, Jan. 25. Fans who submit photos will receive an email prior to game day with information on where to pick up the buttons.
Those who do not pre-submit a photo are still able to participate by bringing a photo to the game (three inches or smaller if printed) and a button will be made on-site.
“Coaches vs. Cancer is just a reminder that we’re all in this together,” Andrea said. “Whether you are affected by cancer directly or indirectly, no one fights alone.”