Each NCAA Tournament, you start to hear stories that a team’s beat writers, fans and message board faithful already know. Those people are probably sick of hearing it by now (did you know James Johnson is a black belt?), but to a majority of the population tuning into March Madness and maybe seeing somebody for the first time this season, it’s important to get those facts out there. They’re interesting. And part of what makes college basketball as great as it is are the unique things that the coaches, players and schools do from year to year.
One of these is UAB’s decision to wear mismatched shoes throughout the year. One green and one white. It might seem a bit odd at first glance, but there’s a perfectly good explanation, and one that just might lead to more teams following the Blazers’ lead.
UAB has been raising awareness and raising money for pediatric cancer through its work with the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s of Alabama.
“Henry Ford talked about, ‘A business that only makes money is a poor business’ if that’s it’s sole purpose,” [UAB coach Jerod] Haase said. “And I think if you’re a basketball program and your sole purpose is just to win games, you’re running a poor program. I think our guys are really bought in.”
Haase continued “They want to reach out to the community and this is something that does touch their heart with our relationship with Elijah. Obviously with the Children’s Hospital we feel like it’s a win-win situation.”
(If Haase meant to get “sole” in that quote twice as a subtle sneaker reference, then bravo. That’s good punning right there.)
Elijah is Elijah Seritt, a cancer patient the team became very close to a couple seasons ago. It’s only fitting the No. 14 Blazers moved on along with another No. 14 seed with a coach who has made a difference with footwear.
Georgia State coach Ron Hunter may be more famous today for his torn achilles and his spill off his scooter after the Panthers shocked Baylor, but his barefoot tradition over Martin Luther King weekend has raised money for Samaritan’s Feet, an organization that gives shoes to underprivileged kids in a number of countries, for years.
I guess the old Mars Blackmon Nike commercial was right – It’s gotta be the shoes.
