CALDWELL, Idaho — The College of Idaho basketball teams are taking part in Coaches vs. Cancer when they play Lewis and Clark State College on Friday. The event, which is recognized nationwide, is a partnership between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. It is used to raise awareness throughout the sports world about the fight against cancer.
"A lot of teams will wear pink or different colors in support of different types of cancer," said Yotes men's Basketball head coach Colby Blaine. "But coaches will be wearing tennis shoes and suits this weekend. Our staff is actually going to be wearing some new tennis shoes with orange laces.”
Orange is an important color for the fight against cancer as it symbolizes Leukemia Awareness. The cause hits home for the Yotes women's basketball team especially. Just months before Yotes recruit Jenika Nurita was supposed to join the team, she was diagnosed with the disease, forcing her to delay her college experience.
“My heart broke for her in all those milestones that she was going to have to delay a little bit," said women's basketball coach Janis Beal. "The big thing we wanted to do is keep her as much of a part of the team, keep encouraging her, and kind of keeping her a part of it as much as she could.”
This weekend, fans are encouraged to wear orange to the game. Attendance is usually high at Yotes games, but if 2,000 or more people show up to the game, Men's basketball players Paul Wilson and Caden Handran have pledged to shave their heads.
The Yotes hope to provide a night of awareness for a disease that impacts so many people in the nation.
“Pretty much everyone has had someone they know or close by friends or family that have dealt with it," said Beal. "So just any type of awareness, to know there is support in the community, is great.”
The women's game tips off at 5 p.m. on Friday night at the J.A. Albertsons Center in Caldwell. The men's game will tip off shortly after the women's finish. Tickets can be found on the school's website here, or can be purchased at the door.
