It will be the first college basketball game of the season. None of the rest will compare to it . . . emotionally.
On Sunday, Lauren Hill and Mount St. Joseph will face Hiram. For Hill, a 19-year-old freshman, it will be a start to her college hoops career. It also will likely be the finish of it.
Hill is battling terminal brain cancer. Mount St. Joseph was able to get a waiver from the NCAA to move the game's date up to Nov. 1.
Due to overwhelming demand, the game had to be moved to Xavier's Cintas Center. In an hour, everyone of the 10,250 seats were sold.
The support has been incredible. Hill attended Lawrenceburg High School in Indianal. This week, Judy Reese's time at the school was spent filling orders for more than 2,000 special Lauren Hill shirts.
"If Lauren can fight to the finish, we can fight as hard as we're fighting," Reese told WCPO.com. "It's amazing. She's going to leave her legacy, that's for sure," Reese said.
T-shirts with that slogan are being sold for $10 apiece. The money goes to The Cure Starts Now Foundation to fight DIPG.
Hill has been giving dozens of interviews and even launched the #Layup4Lauren campaign that has enlisted hundreds of athletes and thousands of followers to join the cause.
Delhi police and firefighters will escort the team bus from campus along Delhi Pike to the Cincinnati city line. Then Cincinnati Police will take over and escort the bus to the Cintas Center.
Here's how to help Lauren's cause:
> Donate to The Cure Starts Now Foundation. It was created specifically to raise needed research money to find a cure for DIPG.
> Sign up for Lauren's challenge or make a donation at Layup4Lauren.org.
(The game will be streamed nationally and televised on regional sports networks. The matchup will be available for free on FOX Sports Go online and through the app, even for users who usually can't access the service. FOX announced Friday the game will also air on FOX Sports Regional Networks, including in Ohio, and FOX College Sports. The Big East is producing the game, which starts at 2 p.m. ET.)
