Tags: V Week

On December 3, six of the nation’s best women’s basketball teams will compete in ESPN’s Jimmy V Women’s Classic.

This year, as Tennessee and South Carolina prepare to take the court, there is an added magnitude to the game.

In the past six months, the women’s basketball community has lost two longtime members after long fights with breast cancer – Nikki McCray-Penson and Tasha Butts. These women were entrenched in the women’s basketball community, playing at Tennessee before moving to professional basketball and coaching careers. Their fights inspired many, and the community rallied around them.

“We’ve been hit hard this summer,” said Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kellie Harper. “So, it’s really fitting that we are able to be the ones to tell the story. We’re the ones to step on the court and play in this big game, and to understand that sometimes, it’s bigger than a game.”

When Connecticut men’s basketball star Donovan Clingan thinks of basketball and his mom, one particular story comes to mind.

He was in eighth grade playing travel basketball and his mom, Stacey Porrini Clingan, in the midst of cancer treatment, was in the stands. Donovan, a big man on the court even then and now 7-foot-3, was getting fouled continually throughout the game.

Stacey was an excellent player in her own time, enjoying stellar high school and collegiate careers at Bristol Central High School (Conn.) and the University of Maine, respectively, and recently inducted into the university’s Sports Hall of Fame. At 6-foot-4, she was a great athlete. She held the rebounding record at Bristol Central for years, until Donovan came along.

But, at that game in Donovan’s eighth grade year, Stacey was sure to let the referees know they were missing calls. She was standing up for her son.

“The refs weren’t making any calls and she actually ended up getting ejected out of the game from the stands,” Donovan said while smiling. “And that just showed you how much she cared about me.”

Basketball was their thing. And now, in her absence, it’s a way for him to stay connected to her.

Stacey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010 when Donovan was around six years old. She fought for a few years before the cancer went into remission. Donovan was young and didn’t fully see what was going on, but he knew his mom beat cancer, had started teaching again and was back to normal.

Then, about five years later, the cancer came back and spread. This time, being a young teenager, Donovan witnessed what his mom was going through. It was a long battle of doctor’s appointments, hospital visits, treatments and more.

Before every Longhorns game, Abbie Boutilier looks to the stands for her parents and her twin sister, Paige. December 3 will be no different.

Abbie, a freshman on the University of Texas women’s basketball team, will join her teammates in taking on UConn in the annual Women’s Jimmy V Classic. To Abbie, this game means more than just the score.

“I think to me and my entire family, it means a lot. We’ve always been into research and giving back since it’s been 10 years since she’s been cancer free. I think at this point, it’s how can we give back as a family who have been through so much and share our experiences and help people get through it.”

The Boutilier family was impacted by cancer in ways they couldn’t have imagined. Just days after Abbie and Paige’s fourth birthday, Paige was diagnosed with leukemia. She underwent treatment, but being so young, there was a lot of confusion and anxiety about the unknown.

Three years later, in 2011, the cancer came back. This time, Abbie was old enough to comprehend what was going on.