Creighton, Nebraska, UNO men’s basketball coaches rally against cancer

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – The top collegiate men’s basketball coaches in Nebraska are coming together for a cause: cancer awareness.

It’s a rare sight to see Creighton head coach Greg McDermott, Husker head coach Fred Hoiberg and UNO head coach Chris Crutchfield all sitting on the same side of the bench.

However, when it comes to the fight against cancer, they’re on the same team.

The coaches hosted a breakfast benefitting Hope Lodge Nebraska: a home away from home for cancer patients traveling great distances for cancer care.

“It’s touched my life tremendously,” said Crutchfield. He lost his mother to cancer.

McDermott’s wife, Theresa, is a survivor.

Each basketball season, his team hosts a “Pink Out Game,“ raising money and awareness for the disease.

“The options that are available today to cancer patients that were not available five years ago let alone 20 years ago, it’s absolutely incredible,“ McDermott said. “It’s why we have to continue to research this disease and why we have to continue to raise money to fight this disease and then, like we are today, the money is going to have a real impact.”

The lodge houses patients and their families completely free.

“You think we’re all enemies and we hate each other. We actually like each other,” Hoiberg said. “We’re very competitive on the court but this is what it’s all about. Coming together and raising money for a great cause like this.”

This is the first year for the event and they plan on doing it again.

According to the American Cancer Society, the risk of dying from cancer has steadily declined over the last 30 years.

However, at the beginning of the year, the society anticipated 2024 would be first time new cases of cancer are expected to cross the 2,000,000 mark.

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