Women's hoops thinks pink for a good cause

Don't adjust the tint on your televisions.

Hues of pink will again shade women's college basketball games this weekend as the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's "Think Pink" campaign to raise breast cancer awareness continues through Sunday.

Feb. 8-17 has been designated "Think Pink" week.

The WBCA began the initiative last year but without much lead time. Only 120 teams participated.

This year, given more time to plan, more than 900 teams -- from the high school and junior-college level all the way up to Division I -- have been involved in some kind of "Think Pink" activity.

Already, we've seen teams such as Penn State and dozens of others dress in silky pink uniforms. We've seen players from all over the country wear pink bows and headbands in their hair, pink laces in their shoes and pink shoes altogether.

We've also seen coaches walking the sidelines dressed in pink from head to toe.

Illinois coach Jolette Law wore retro pink high-tops last week. And one male coach -- Chatham University's Mark Katarski -- even dyed his hair pink for a game.

Meanwhile, referees have used pink whistles. And even fans have gotten in on the action.

Oklahoma called Tuesday's game against Texas A&M a "pink-out" as a much of a school-record crowd of 12,168 was wearing pink.

"It's been phenomenal," said WBCA CEO Beth Bass. "The good news is that this resonates with so many people. The bad news is … this resonates with so many people.

"At a game at Arizona, they were on the microphone saying, 'If you're a breast cancer survivor, please stand. If someone you know has breast cancer, please stand, and so on.' And of course, eventually, everyone was standing and, I tell you, it just took your breath away. So many people struggle with breast cancer."

The cold, hard fact is that one in seven women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.

One who actually did has been the driving force behind this campaign.

North Carolina State coach Kay Yow had her breast cancer return during the middle of last season after it had been in remission for 19 years. She created the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund in partnership with The V Foundation, a charitable cancer research organization named after the late men's basketball coach at North Carolina State, Jimmy Valvano.

The fund is directed to breast cancer and all other cancers that affect women.

Through its "Think Pink" campaign, the WBCA has already raised nearly $139,000 for the fund, including $250 from a 6-year-old girl who asked that the guests at her birthday party bring "Think Pink" donations rather than gifts.

"You hear stories like that all the time and it just really touches you," Bass said. "The donations are coming in from everywhere."

And the WBCA still has many more donations to count. Also, some schools that are participating in "Think Pink" are already partnered with their own breast cancer charity.

So while money from their "Think Pink" days might not be going to the WBCA Cancer Fund, the bottom line is that it's going to some worthy organization that will help fight this horrible disease.

"The most important thing is that we get the word out and that the women's basketball community do whatever possible to make a difference.

"I think it's great how women's basketball has been the medium to get the word out about a cause that's bigger than the game. Women's basketball is more than a sport, it's a movement. And this is a movement."

Bass thinks the movement will only get bigger and bigger.

She says that getting competitive people like athletes and coaches involved in anything remotely competitive always produces over-the-top results.

For example, DePaul coach Doug Bruno planned to donate $5 to the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund for every student who showed up to Sunday's win over Louisville.

It wouldn't be surprising if he's donating more next year just to keep up with his colleagues.

"These coaches are just very competitive," Bass said. "One is going to hear about something someone did or how much money someone raised and they're just going to keep upping it because they're such competitive people. This is just going to keep spawning more and more awareness and more and more dollars being donated."

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

Warm fuzziesIt's common knowledge that the relationship between Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt and Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma was put on ice this summer when word got out that the ultra-hyped, much-anticipated annual rivalry game between the schools would be no more because Summitt had terminated the contract.Rumors surfaced that Summitt was irritated over recruiting techniques that Auriemma allegedly used to land the best high school player in the country last year -- guard Maya Moore, whom Tennessee was hotly after as well.But recently, Summitt and Auriemma convened for a public service announcement for "Think Pink," a national initiative sponsored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association in honor of breast cancer awareness week.Summitt and Auriemma appeared with North Carolina State coach Kay Yow, who has breast cancer and who partnered with the WBCA to start the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund."After we shot the spot, I was ready to take Coach Yow to the Middle East," laughed Beth Bass, the CEO of the WBCA. "Actually, they (Summitt and Auriemma) were exceptional. It was very cordial and there were some wonderful moments between them. Unfortunately, I don't think the spot captured that in its entirety. But we got a lot of footage that we're holding onto tight."-- Patricia Babcock McGraw