ACS :: Coach Profiles

Jim Calhoun is always looking for ways to use his position as head coach of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball program to affect society in a positive way.

Before he got involved in Coaches vs. Cancer®, Calhoun had already, along with his wife Pat, helped raise millions of dollars for the University of Connecticut Health Center, and even had the cardiology center there named in his honor. Since getting involved with Coaches vs. Cancer, Calhoun, his wife, his team, and his community have raised several more millions of dollars to help the American Cancer Society’s fight against cancer.

“I’m proud to have the opportunity to not only get involved myself but to be a role model for my players that you can and should give back,” Calhoun said. “This is obviously something very special.”

And to Calhoun, the fight against cancer is more than just a special cause – it’s a personal battle. Just more than three years ago, after he had become an integral part of Coaches vs. Cancer and even sat on the program’s board, Calhoun heard those three dreaded words himself: “You have cancer.” Today, he is cancer-free, after a successful prostectomy to treat prostate cancer.

“It did really hit home. The good news is because of early detection and somewhat early intervention … I am cancer free,” he said. “So I know what a scary word (cancer) can be. I have something personal riding on this besides just the fact that it’s a terrific charity and it’s something we should do. Every single step we make is so important.”

Calhoun said he appreciates the efforts of fund-raisers for the fight against cancer who came before him, because he believes they helped his personal battle with the disease. That’s why he’s so happy to contribute everything he can to fighting the disease as a coach.

His participation in the American Cancer Society's Coaches vs. Cancer® program has helped raise nearly a million dollars since he got involved in 1999. Yet because it's for the fight against cancer, Williams isn't content.

"I always feel you can do more," Williams said. "It's like coaching. You always think you can win another game. Nobody's satisfied—we're always looking for ways to increase that amount."

Williams joined the Society's Coaches vs. Cancer program to use his high-profile position for good, he said. He has a personal connection to the disease—he lost his mother to cancer - but said he works to defeat cancer because it's a universal problem.

Williams' first work with the program was through hosting the 1999 Coaches vs. Cancer Golf Invitational at the Maryland Caves Valley Golf Club. The annual event has raised more than $800,000 to fight cancer, and brings coaches and local communities together in friendly competition for a good cause.

Williams has also started an annual tip-off breakfast for Maryland basketball supporters that has raised more than $115,000 since it began four years ago. He uses the event to discuss the outlook for the Terps' season and has local business people purchase tables. His fundraising efforts earned him the 2006 Coaches vs. Cancer Champion Award, the program's highest honor.

Williams' top-notch fundraising efforts to fight cancer are icing on the cake to his successful coaching career. Now in his 18th season coaching Maryland basketball, Williams has the third highest number of coaching wins in Atlantic Coast Conference history, having taken his alma mater's team to seven Sweet 16 appearances and clenching the 2002 national championship title, a first for the school.

The Coaches vs. Cancer program is crucial not only because it raises money to fight the disease, but also because it increases awareness about preventing cancer, Williams said. He helps educate people about cancer through events like his annual tip-off breakfast, special events at televised games, and spending summers teaching youth the ropes of the game at Coaches vs. Cancer basketball camps.

"When a coach gets involved, sometimes people listen a little more," Williams said. "Sometimes when you coach you put the blinders on. You realize there's a whole world out there besides basketball. You can use basketball for a lot of positive things."

Williams said the Coaches vs. Cancer program will be a lifetime commitment for him.

"There's got to be more money raised until there is a cure," he said. "We're nowhere near where we have to be yet."

Early detection gave Vann Pettaway his win over prostate cancer. Coaches vs. Cancer now gives him a way to tell others about the benefits of screening.

In 2005, the Alabama A&M Bulldogs lost their first-round matchup in the men's NCAA Division I basketball tournament—the school's first-ever appearance in the prestigious event. But the road there was a victory in itself, particularly for Coach Vann Pettaway. Within an hour and a half after the plane brought him and his team home, Pettaway began the first of 43 daily radiation treatments to treat an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

"This was my national championship, overcoming cancer," says Pettaway in that stern, no-nonsense voice shared by many college basketball coaches. He adds that his win over the disease—which he attributes to God, his family and his doctors—was bigger than any NCAA championship.

Pettaway's battle actually began a year earlier, when he went in for his annual physical exam. At age 45 and physically fit from running court drills with college basketball players, he expected to fly through this exam as usual.

His physician ordered a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test—a simple blood test used as part of early detection screening for prostate cancer. But Pettaway's PSA results were unusually high, so his doctor ordered a biopsy. Those results came back negative, and a follow-up biopsy was scheduled to ensure accuracy. Six weeks later, the second biopsy revealed the cancer.

"The biopsy showed that my cancer was an aggressive type, and my doctor recommended surgery," says Pettaway. "The diagnosis was at the end of July [2004] and the surgery was on September 14."

Before basketball season began, Pettaway had to break the news to his team. His players were stunned but decided on the spot to dedicate the new season to him, promising to play hard and give their all to Pettaway.

At about the same time, a chance phone call led Pettaway to get involved in Coaches vs. Cancer, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers basketball coaches to join the fight against cancer. Pettaway was asked to have his team play in a fundraising tournament in Birmingham, scheduled for two months after his surgery. Pettaway had participated in local American Cancer Society fundraisers such as Relay For Life® and area golf tournaments, but nothing on a national stage.

"I thought that it was meant to be," he says. "They called to see if I was interested, and I said yes and I told them why, that I had just been diagnosed with cancer." Pettaway dropped a game from his team's schedule to make it happen.

The way Pettaway looks at it, who better than a college basketball coach to speak to other men about early detection of prostate cancer, especially since coaches are so often interviewed on television? Still recovering from his surgery but with his characteristic enthusiasm intact, Pettaway and his team made it to the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic event that November—and Pettaway joined the effort to encourage other men about prostate cancer testing. And Pettaway received in return calls and cards from across the country. "They all came from people who had either gone through prostate cancer or were going through it," he says. "I heard a lot of words of encouragement."

For this normally strong and passionate coach who jumps up and down and cheers on his players, it was a different kind of basketball season. Pettaway's post-surgery recuperation would last throughout the season, and he says he experienced considerable weakness, found it difficult to even blow a whistle and sometimes was unable to attend team practices or make it through an entire game. His assistants, Willie Hayes and Sammy Jackson, took on the bulk of the coaching.

"I really couldn't go into a game without going to the bathroom first," says Pettaway, referring to a lack of bladder control. "We had an overtime game, and I had to leave the court. But the players worked hard and did better, so I wouldn't have to holler. They wanted to make things easier for me, and it really brought us closer together. We are a very close-knit group."

Then the team's hard work began to pay off after a slow season start. Initially picked to finish fourth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the Bulldogs began to win, eventually taking both the conference championship and tournament title. This achievement earned Alabama A&M and Coach Pettaway a berth in the 2005 NCAA Division I tournament for the first time in school history.

And Pettaway ultimately won, as well. After his surgery and radiation treatments, he received word in December 2005 that tests showed no trace of cancer. Two more tests are scheduled, one this summer and again in December, to make sure the surgery and radiation did their jobs.

"We feel pretty confident that the treatment has taken care of it," he says. "I have had great support from my family, from my wife and our two daughters, and we are just moving on. I am not letting it hold me back."

Pettaway says that having prostate cancer has been a learning experience. An old man's disease? He was just 45 when he was diagnosed. Get it from your relatives? Pettaway isn't aware of any such history in his family. Can't have it without symptoms? Pettaway had no sign until the tests came back positive.

"I have learned that this can happen to anybody," he says, "regardless of how old you are, what your race, creed or color is. Cancer can happen to anyone—and the biggest thing for African Americans is that this cancer seems more prevalent in us, and we should take it on ourselves to be checked. We have to. You can't wait for this thing."

Pettaway says that he is still dealing with some lingering side effects, but overall, he feels better physically—and feels both relieved and fortunate to be able to help others through Coaches vs. Cancer.

"Every opportunity I get I tell young men and older men that they can save their lives by getting checked," he says. "I am still here now because of my physical. As aggressive as my cancer was, if I had not been checked, I would not have made it through the next year."

Although last season wasn't as kind to Alabama A&M, losing in the first round of the conference tournament, there will always be a next year. For the Bulldogs-and for Coach Pettaway.

Illinois University Head Coach, Receives the Coaches vs. Cancer 2007 Champion Award

During the recent NCAA Men’s Final Four weekend in Atlanta, Georgia, Bruce Weber, head coach of the Fighting Illini at Illinois University, received the 2007 Coaches vs. Cancer® Champion Award at the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Award Show.

The Champion Award is the highest honor of the Coaches vs. Cancer program. More than 500 coaches across the country have joined in the fight against cancer, raising more than $30 million to support the American Cancer Society. Former Champion Award winners include Jim Boeheim of Syracuse University, Roy Williams of the University of North Carolina, Mike Brey of the University of Notre Dame, Gary Williams of the University of Maryland, Mark Few of Gonzaga University, and Norm Stewart of the University of Missouri.

Weber has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the American Cancer Society® through his fundraising efforts, community presence, and outstanding leadership among his peers. He has been involved with the Coaches vs. Cancer program for the past nine years, raising more than $400,000 in Illinois to support the American Cancer Society’s lifesaving mission.

Coach of the Fighting Illini for the past three years, Weber enjoyed unprecedented success both in the Big Ten and nationally. He directed the 2005-2006 Illini to a third consecutive 25-win season, a runner-up finish in the Big Ten, the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and a ranking among the nation’s top 17 teams throughout the entire season. The Fighting Illini team was rated number one in the country throughout the 2004-2005 season. Coach Weber also ranks as the second-winningest coach in the nation throughout the last five seasons, totaling 141 victories.

More than 300 basketball dignitaries from the professional, college, and high school ranks paid tribute to Weber as he accepted the 2007 Coaches vs. Cancer Champion Award recognizing him for his ongoing efforts in the fight against cancer.

Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers basketball coaches, their teams, and communities to join the fight against cancer. The program leverages the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of basketball coaches nationwide to increase cancer awareness and raise funds to fight the disease through year-round educational efforts and fundraising activities.

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