College basketball games usually are about fun and supporting your team. But they also can be used to spread information, which is exactly what the Mike Slive Foundation is doing.
The foundation raises awareness and money for the fight against prostate cancer. It has partnered with numerous colleges, universities and conferences for the Block Cancer initiative, which is running through January and February and includes 27 basketball games in 27 cities.
“Using the platform of college athletics to help raise awareness of prostate cancer was my father’s vision, said Anna Slive Harwood, executive director of the Mike Slive Foundation. “We are grateful for the ongoing support from these conferences and institutions as we continue to help educate men and their loved ones about this disease. Because one in nine men will get prostate cancer, this is everyone’s fight.”
Slive was an influential sports executive and commissioner of several conferences, including the SEC and Conference USA, as well as being diagnosed with prostate cancer late in his life.
Block Cancer events have or are being held by Conference USA, Big 12 and SEC schools, as well as Purdue, Saint Louis and South Carolina.
Block Cancer host teams wear blue Block Cancer shooting shirts, and coaches wear blue ties and foundation lapel pins. During the game, fans see signage and videos that focus on increasing awareness for prostate cancer.
One of those games will be the Feb. 12 matchup between the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Mid Tennessee State University.
For more information or to donate to the Mike Slive Foundation, visit mikeslivefoundation.org.
