Cary, N.C. -- The V Foundation for Cancer Research has announced the finalists for the eleventh annual V Foundation Comeback Award. The award is presented in conjunction with ESPN and the recipient will be announced during ESPN’s basketball tournament coverage in early April.
The finalists are: Jessica Breland, North Carolina; Dawn Evans, James Madison; Jacki Gemelos, USC; Angel Goodrich, Kansas; Levi Knutson, Colorado; Andrea “Drey” Mingo, Purdue; Cory Pflieger, Rice; Thomas Robinson, Kansas; Kim Rodgers, Maryland; Krystal Thomas, Duke; and Whitney Hand, Oklahoma.
The annual award is open to men and women collegiate basketball student-athletes in all divisions. It is awarded to an individual or a team who has accomplished a personal triu
mph in the face of true adversity, be it in health, life or moral dilemma. Student-athletes are nominated by their athletics department representative.
The award is presented in memory of Jim Valvano, the late basketball coach and ESPN commentator, whose personal battle with cancer inspired the creation of The V Foundation. In his memorable speech at ESPN’s inaugural ESPY Awards announcing the creation of The V Foundation, Valvano’s “Don’t Give Up . . . Don’t Ever Give Up!”® motto created a legacy from which the Comeback Award was created.
photo, above right: 2010 V Foundation Comeback Award recipient Dallas Blocker of Youngstown State (center) with YSU head basketball coach Jerry Slocum and Joyce Aschenbrenner, V Foundation VP of Special Projects.
“This year’s finalists for The V Foundation Comeback Award truly exemplify courage and determination in the face of adversity,” said V Foundation CEO Nick Valvano. “The nominees are exemplary young people who embody The V Foundation’s “Don’t Give Up” attitude.”
The 2011 recipient will be selected by a six-member sub-committee of The V Foundation Board of Directors. Past recipients of the award are: Katie Douglas, Purdue (2001); Kristin Koetsier, Western Michigan (2002); Justin Allen, Arizona State (2003); Jamie Carey, Texas (2004); Kayla Burt, Washington (2005); Grant Dykstra, Western Washington (2006); the United States Military Academy Women’s Basketball Team (2007); Nicole Hester, Drexel (2008); Tiffara Steward, Farmingdale State (2009); Dallas Blocker, Youngstown State (2010).
2011 V Foundation Comeback Award Finalists
Jessica Breland, SR, North Carolina
After earning ACC All-Defensive team honors as a junior in 2009, a lingering respiratory illness prompted a chest scan where she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in late May. She began aggressive chemotherapy for six months, missing the 09-10 season, but continued to take classes and she was deemed to be in remission and prepared for a return to the court for the 2010-11 season, where she is second on the squad in scoring and rebounding and is on mid-season watch-lists for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy.
Off the court she worked with head coach Sylvia Hatchell and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center to establish the Jessica Breland Comeback Kids Fund to benefit pediatric oncology at UNC.
Dawn Evans, SR, James Madison
Dawn, one of the leading scorers in the NCAA the past three seasons (currently ranked #2 at 23.6 ppg), was diagnosed in December 2009 with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a disease that attacks the kidneys’ filtering system. Her symptoms began prior to the start of the 2009-10 season, diagnosed in December 2009 and she has amazingly missed only three of 60 games due to FSGS symptoms. She has virtually rewritten the JMU record books with more than 40 school records to date; she is on the watch-lists for the Naismith and Wade trophies, Wooden Award, a finalist for Lowe’s Senior CLASS and Leiberman Award, and has either earned or is a finalist for numerous other awards and on-court honors.
To help raise public awareness of FSGS, she is a very active ambassador for The NephCure Foundation, and even though physically spent from fatigue caused by the disease, Dawn still finds time to meet with FSGS suffers and their families following games, return communications from others with kidney disease and serve as an active voice to help fight FSGS.
Jacki Gemelos, GRAD, Southern California
Jacki was considered the nation’s top recruit, even after sustaining a torn ACL in her senior year in high school, resulting in a medical redshirt and year of rehab, her first season at USC. Her sophomore year, she tore the ACL again and sat out for another season of rehab. Right before the start of the 2008-09 season (technically her junior year) it happened again in practice, resulting in what everyone imagined would end her career. Her return to the court for what would be her senior season (academically), was delayed again when in May 2009, the last graft in her knee deteriorated, resulting in more surgery and rehab, but she would finally hit the court later that season. She played her first collegiate game on Feb.4, 2010, three and a half years after starting classes at USC as a freshman. This season is her first full season of basketball; she’s a masters student in gerontology and is USC’s third leading scorer.
Angel Goodrich, SO, Kansas
Angel arrived at Kansas in 2009 after a stellar high school career. In just her second collegiate practice, she suffered a torn ACL in her left knee and spent the rest the rest of the year in rehab. Leading the team the following year to a nine-straight-week ranking (11-3), being the fastest player in KU history to record 100 assists, just 15 games into the season she tore the ACL in her right knee, along with meniscus damage. Following rehab, she returned for her third season and after three games was forced to the bench for seven games after requiring surgery to repair scar tissue from the ACL surgery. She returned to the court for good in mid-December and is currently first in the Big 12 in assists, leads the league in assists in conference play and - after missing the seven games in December - has turned in great stats including double-figure scoring and assist games. She also set an Allen Fieldhouse (men and women basketball) assist record with 15, in an upset win vs. #20 Iowa State.
Goodrich is active in many community service projects and has adopted a local elementary school in KU’s Schools for Success program. Of Native American descent, Angel serves as a role model in the Native American community, speaking to local groups about persevering though hard times and overcoming obstacles.
Levi Knutson, SR, Colorado
During his freshman year, Levi sustained an impingement and a torn labrum on his left hip requiring surgery. At the beginning of his sophomore year, he learned, once again, his right hip would also need to have surgery. He was able to play each respective season, delaying surgery to the end of the season. Prior to his junior year, Levi experienced a minor setback, forcing him to miss the first five games of that season. He approached his senior season fully healthy.
In 2010-11, Levi is having his best season-to-date with career numbers in PPG (11.9), FGM (123), FG% (52.3) and leads the team with 57 3-pointers. He’s one of the Big 12 leaders in 3-point accuracy. Levi also excels in the classroom. He’s a three-time All-Big 12 Academic (1st team), five-time Commissioners Honor Roll, six-time Dean's List and achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average twice. He’s earned CU's Scholar-Athlete Award for highest GPA of the junior class (3.929) and possessed the highest GPA among finance students in the CU Leeds School of Business in Fall 2010. In February 2011, he was named a CoSIDA Academic second team All-America.
Andrea “Drey” Mingo, JR, Purdue
On Nov. 23, 2010, Drey was hospitalized with bacterial meningitis and placed in intensive care. Less than 48 hours before, she had recorded 21 points and 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals to help Purdue to a 67-58 victory over DePaul for the Preseason WNIT championship. Two days after the game, she was discovered in her apartment unresponsive and with just a faint pulse. At the hospital, she was intubated and given just a 50 percent chance of surviving through the night. Her case was extreme because she had contracted the most dangerous strain of bacterial meningitis - Neisseria; she suffered hearing loss and tinnitus, with less than 15 percent hearing in her left ear and about 60 percent hearing in her right ear.
After undergoing an outpatient procedure in late January to try to improve hearing in her left ear, she returned to rank second on the team in scoring at 14.6 points. In the final month of the season, she has returned to close to 100 percent of her previous ability. In the final two games of the regular season, she set career highs with 25 points against Ohio State and 15 rebounds at Penn State. In her last four games, she has averaged team highs of 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 59.0 percent from the field (23-of-39), including an impressive 7-of-9 three-pointers for 77.8 percent.
Cory Pflieger, GRAD, Rice
Cory has overcome not one, but two season-ending injuries at Rice. Just five games into his junior season he suffered a torn ankle ligament, ending his season. Heading into his senior season, Cory sustained what was later diagnosed as a torn anterior cruciate ligament as well as torn meniscus which required surgery and prevented him from playing. Weeks after surgery, he applied for an NCAA hardship waiver to possibly gain one final year of eligibility. Following a year of rehab, he has returned to provide much-needed leadership, playing in all 27 games and leads the team with 36 three-pointers made.
Cory graduated from Rice last spring with a degree in kinesiology. Furthering his education, Cory had to maintain a higher grade point average than his teammates, to maintain eligibility for the spring semester.
Thomas Robinson, SO, Kansas
During the 2010-11 season Thomas suffered through the deaths of three immediate family members (grandmother, grandfather, mother) in a span of 21 days, plus a slight meniscus tear in his right knee that sidelined him for three games. His only remaining family member is an older brother who has been out of his life for years, and his 7-year old sister. He missed Kansas’ Jan. 5 game to attend his grandmother’s funeral in Washington DC; 1 ½ weeks later he lost his grandfather, but his mother insisted Thomas not attend the funeral (since it was so shortly following his return to Kansas).
On the evening before KU played Texas, his sister called him with the shocking news that his mother had suddenly passed away at the young age of 43. Mourning with his teammates all night, he went ahead and played against Texas saying it was what his mother would want him to do. Returning to DC, the 19-year old planned his mother’s funeral and hired a law firm to set up a fund to honor his mother and assist with his sister’s education expenses. Following rehab for the Feb. 7 injury, he returned to the court (saying basketball was a “release”), giving KU inspiration on and off of the court.
Kim Rodgers, GRAD, Maryland
In her four years at Maryland, Kim has battled adversity through injury and personal issues. Her freshman year she sustained a season-ending ACL tear; the following year, micro fractures in the same knee. Throughout Kim’s trials, her sister battled breast cancer. Throughout adversity, Kim maintained an outstanding academic record, and this season averages more than 22 minutes per game and is in the top 15 in 3-pointers in ACC games with 18 this season.
Krystal Thomas, SR, Duke
Life circumstances forced Krystal to “grow up” early. As a teenager, her dad was sent to prison and her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, leaving her the main caregiver for three sisters and one brother while still playing varsity basketball. Following her mother’s death, the children were taken in by another family. Her father was released before Krystal’s first year at Duke and they have been mending the relationship ever since. It was a dream for both Krystal and her mother for her to attend Duke and she’s excelled both on the court and in the classroom. She will graduate in May and is planning to go to medical school and would like to also play basketball professionally.
Whitney Hand, SO, Oklahoma
Whitney started all 33 games of OU’s Final Four season, her freshman year, was Big 12 Freshman of the Year (among other honors). In an early game in her highly anticipated sophomore season, she sustained a torn ACL and meniscus, and sprained MCL, as well as a deep bone bruise. Within three weeks, she underwent surgery and faced six months of rehab made more challenging because of the combination of injuries. She approached rehab like she had playing basketball – giving 110 percent at every opportunity, taking a seat right next to Head Coach Sherri Coale on the bench. She listened, watched, learned and then shared what she had learned with her teammates in a way that only works teammate to teammate. She was cleared to play after six months of rehab.
In a summer pick-up game she noticed pain in her knee --the bone bruise was still there requiring additional surgery. The damage to the articular cartilage was more extensive than the MRI had shown. Whitney faced six to eight weeks on crutches and an additional three months of difficult rehab. She attacked her rehab, fueled by her burning desire to get back on the floor and leading her team. Once again, she found a role helping the young players and support the returning players. Eventually, 401 days after the initial injury, Whitney returned to the court, although she continues to have pain, and is a role model for her teammates because they know she came back for them.
The V Foundation for Cancer Research
The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, The Foundation has raised more than $100 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. It awards 100 percent of all direct cash donations and net proceeds of events directly to cancer research and related programs. Administrative and fundraising expenses are paid by the Foundation’s endowment. The Foundation awards grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Advisory Board. For more information on The V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit
www.jimmyv.org.
Media Contacts:
For The V Foundation: Sherrie Mazur (smazur@jimmyv.org) 919-380-9505
For ESPN: Michael Humes (michael.c.humes@espn.com) 860-766-2233