For Coble, picking mom over basketball was easy decision

No one would have blamed Kevin Coble if he had stayed and played.

It would have seemed normal, predictable even, in an age in which athletes routinely put their sport ahead of their personal crisis, where playing in honor of an ailing loved one has become almost cliche. If Coble had picked basketball over breast cancer, no one would have raised an eyebrow.

The fact that Coble didn't pick hoops is what makes his story unique.

But should it?

A mother needed her son, so Coble left Northwestern and returned to Arizona to be with his mom, Carlys, while she underwent treatment for breast cancer. He put his promising hoops career on hold. He kept up in his classes through the phone and the Internet and took exams at his high school. He continued to work out with his club basketball coach, Art Dye, and his trainer, Warren Anderson, but he spent every free moment with Carlys.

And he didn't think twice about it.

Coble was back at practice Tuesday morning, swishing jumpers before most of his NU teammates took the court. He arrived earlier in the week, practiced three times and left after Wednesday's workout.

"My mom felt a little bit better, so I was comfortable in leaving," said Coble, who led NU in scoring and rebounding as a freshman last season. "That's the most important thing that determines when I can get away."

He will be back for good Dec. 28 and expects to play in NU's Big Ten opener Jan. 2.

I felt insensitive asking Coble if his decision to leave school in October was easy, but he politely interrupted me.

"It was an easy decision," he said. "That's just the nature of our relationship. Once this happened, this was sort of the next course of action, something that had to happen."

Kevin and Carlys will make the trip together next week, and Carlys will undergo her final chemotherapy treatment at Evanston Hospital as well as follow-up radiation there.

When Kevin returns to the court Jan. 2, Carlys, who lived in Evanston last season and attended every NU game, will be in her customary seat behind the Wildcats' bench.

"That's something that has been keeping both of us going, something to look forward to," Kevin said. "She's doing as well as she can be considering what's going on. Once (basketball) starts, it means the treatment is coming to an end.

"That's sort of the light at the end of the tunnel, just something to give a sense of hope."

Coble anticipates an adjustment period when he returns to games. And despite his steady workouts, he's showing some rust.

During a wind sprint in Tuesday's practice, Coble, one of team's best athletes, was the last man to cross the baseline.

"You counting that as making it?" NU coach Bill Carmody asked athletic trainer Scott Barthlama, who was timing the sprint. "Blondie looked late."

Blondie, the nickname Carmody calls the fair-haired Coble, will soon catch up on the court.

But when it comes to perspective and priorities, he is way ahead of the pack.

"It's been tough to see her hurting and to have to go through this," Coble said, "but to be there has been really important, for both of us and our family. Especially for me, my emotional state, that's definitely the best decision in the long run."