"This is the biggest part of it, we make the money last night and on the golf course but this is really why we do it," Oakland Men's basketball coach Greg Kampe said. "As I look around at their faces I know we've done something good."
The 180-thousand dollars raised for cancer research will go a long way in the fight, but there's no monetary value to the impact that the likes of Tom Izzo and Stan Van Gundy had on the families and patients at Royal Oak Beaumont Children's Hospital.
"I'd be honored to be apart of it anywhere but to be able to do it locally here in our community makes it even more meaningful for me," Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy said.
50 current patients at the hospital and their families got encouragement and support from some of the best leaders on the hardwood,
and while no one left with a shortage of smiles, giggles and swag, it's the coaches leaving with a fresh outlook on the fragility of life.
"There's a sense of seeing these kids that puts things into perspective, basketball has done a lot for us but i think in this respect it's helping others," Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said.
"We all feel very lucky to have the kind of lives we have through this stupid, orange, leather basketball so it's really cool to be a part of this," ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla added.
And it couldn't be done without he mastermind, Greg Kampe is always the first to throw his hand in the ring for battling cancer, but to manage a program while putting together this type of event? Legendary.
"I think what Greg has done is sacrificed an unbelievable amount of time and energy to do something very, very important," Van Gundy said.
"Coming to it is a little bit of a sacrifice sometimes, organizing it? That's a big bit of sacrifice," Izzo added.
"Imagine being a parent of a child that's terminally ill or going through a cancer fight, the tears that flow over the time, to see your son or daughter so happy, as I look around and I see the smiles on the parents faces, I know we've done something good," Kampe said.
