The Toledo Rockets are still Ben Pike's team, and that team is interested in doing everything it can to help Pike's most important cause.
Friday night, Toledo is coming across the state to Pike's hometown.
The Rockets will hold an open spring football practice Friday night at Mentor High School as a fundraiser for Ashlee Barrett, Pike's fiancee and a former Toledo women's basketball player who is battling leukemia.
Pike, a former Mentor star and a starting defensive end for Toledo last fall, gave up his final year of football eligibility in order to spend as much time as possible with Barrett, who underwent a stem cell transplant on Thursday in her hometown of St. Louis.
Their wedding is scheduled for June. Pike is scheduled to fly back to Ohio from St. Louis and address his former teammates at the practice.
"Our players are so invested in Ben and Ashlee and doing everything we can to help her get better that it was the players who drove this," Toledo coach Matt Campbell said. "The players have asked from the very start about any way they can help."
Campbell said he's glad that Friday night's event became the best possible way for his program to directly help for many reasons, including that Pike will be able to catch up with friends new and old and "feel the love" from all associated.
"When I was an assistant coach I drove to Mentor to recruit Ben, and getting to know him through the process was an absolute pleasure," Campbell said. "Every camp, every drill, he was the first guy in line. He was the captain of one of those really good Mentor teams. He's a great kid from an amazing family and we hope he gets a morale boost by seeing everyone on Friday night."
This is Barrett's second fight with leukemia. While recovering last fall she was able to attend to Toledo's homecoming game vs. Central Michigan, and she was invited into the postgame locker room where she was saluted by the entire team and received the game ball.
Campbell called that "maybe the greatest moment I've had in football."
Campbell worked closely with the Toledo compliance staff to make sure everything was cleared for the 140-mile trip from Toledo to Mentor Friday night, which is a little more than 20 miles northeast of Cleveland. He said the on-field action Friday night "will look like a scrimmage" in an offense vs. defense format with a few surprises planned designed to engage what he hopes will be a good crowd.
Admission to the practice is free. Donations will be accepted.
Donations for Ashlee Barrett may also be dropped off or mailed to:
Fifth Third Bank
Ashlee Barrett Fund/Northeast Ohio
9875 Johnnycake Ridge Rd
Mentor, OH 44060
