UNC hosts Dribble for Victory Over Cancer

Yesterday morning at Carmichael Arena, UNC men’s and women’s basketball, along with the softball, gymnastics, and wrestling teams (apologies for any exclusions, but that’s all I could positively ID during the event) participated in “Dribble for Victory Over Cancer,” a fundraising event benefitting pediatric cancer research.

Hosted by the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, this event is the latest in a series of mile-long, basketball-dribbling walks across college campuses that began at UCLA. UNC student athletes from a wide variety of sports participated in the event, along with families and fans that were on campus, most of them tired from getting home after midnight following the win over Florida A&M.

The course began at the side concourse of Carmichael Arena, then went left towards the Bell Tower, before cutting into the middle of campus past the Wilson Library, then right after the South Building, and back towards central campus after the Old Well, before returning to Carmichael. It was not a taxing course, but the uneven bricks on central campus made dribbling problematic, especially when taking into account the cramped space for ball-handling with several hundred point guards in a congested area.

Before the event kicked off, kids and current students were on the floor chopping it up with the men’s and women’s basketball teams. Under one basket, kids were getting selfies with Leaky Black and Armando Bacot. At the other basket, a game of knockout between current students and young children broke out. Redshirt freshman guard Kayla McPherson joined in, but the event started before a winner could be declared.

The Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and the V Foundation said they plan on returning next year to host this event again. If they do, look into participating, it was a lot of fun. If you can fundraise ahead of time, there are some fabulous prizes available, including free basketball game tickets (men’s and women’s), and a jersey signed by head coach Hubert Davis.

If you do come next year, make sure your handles are tight. You don’t want to have your ball bounce into someone else on the course due to sloppy control.