Feb. 7, 2008

GREENVILLE, S.C. -
By Abe Hardesty
Greenville News

Jonathon "J.B." Barbaree gets to call attention to a couple of his greatest passions Saturday afternoon, when the Furman University women's basketball team plays host to the College of Charleston women.

For the basketball-loving Barbaree, in his fourth season as an assistant women's basketball coach at Furman, the game offers an opportunity to raise awareness of his favorite sport and of his favorite charity -- the American Cancer Society. Barbaree is a member of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, whose "Think Pink" initiative will be apparent at about 120 college campuses this week.

As part of the "Think Pink" campaign on the Furman campus, Saturday's 3 p.m. game will feature free admission to anyone wearing anything pink. Barbaree hopes fans will also donate $5 to the American Cancer Society.

More than 1,600 area breast cancer survivors have been invited to the game and will be honored at halftime.

The goal is to raise $10,000. Regardless of the monetary total, Barbaree says the promotion will serve its purpose simply by raising awareness of the threat of breast cancer.

"We saw this as an event we could have on campus that would raise the awareness. Every time I see how crazy the numbers are in terms of breast cancer, it's a reminder that a lot of girls I've coached over the years might someday be impacted by breast cancer," says Barbaree, who began coaching 12 years ago at his alma mater, Georgia College.

Barbaree's family has been directly affected by breast cancer. His aunt, Midge Barbaree of Atlanta, is a breast cancer survivor.

"My main purpose is to increase the awareness of this cancer killer, and help raise money to find a cure for this deadly disease. Sometime in the lives of the young ladies that I have coached they will have to come in contact with breast cancer either through a family member or a friend," Barbaree says. "I just pray that we can find a better way to fight this vicious disease so that they or their children will not be diagnosed with it.

"Basketball is a fun game and there are a lot of challenges within it," Barbaree says, "but the challenge of cancer in the game of life is something that we all must help to conquer." says Barbaree.

Three members of the Furman team -- Susan Troutman, Katie Johnson, and Courtney Opie -- have watched family or friends battle breast cancer.

Troutman, a freshman from Greenville, has been inspired by a breast cancer survivor -- Greenville's Joanne McCutcheon -- who is among her mother's best friends.

"She is a role model to me as well as my mother not only because of her intelligence, generosity, and friendship, but because she didn't let the disease bring her down. She stayed unbelievably strong and positive through her battle with breast cancer. I am blessed to have her in my life," says Troutman, who describes McCutcheon as "like a mentor and a mom to my mother . . . She has taught my mom so much about life, antiques, and cooking. When she was diagnosed my mother was devastated, but her friend was so strong and actually made the people around her stronger by her own strength."

Troutman says campaigns such as Think Pink, and the Race for the Cure which is scheduled on the Furman campus in March, make a big impact personally.

Johnson, a junior from Dallas, watched her grandmother battle the disease.

"This game means a lot to me because I want more people to be aware of the dangers of breast cancer," says Johnson, whose grandmother endured treatment that included a mastectomy. "My grandmother died almost two years ago (not from breast cancer) but we were extremely close. The fact that she had to suffer with breast cancer brings back her memory in an event like this."

Opie, a junior from Powder Springs, Ga., says the awareness campaigns, along with the illnesses of family members, "have made me very aware of the signs and the precautious measures needed to help early detection and to prevent a long term problem."

To raise the awareness, both teams will wear pink warm-up shirts for the contest. Coaches and spectators are encouraged to wear pink.

Debbie Smith, income manager of the Upstate South Carolina office of the American Cancer Society, plans to do the pink in extreme. She plans to wear a pink gown, a pink jacket and pink sunglasses to the game, "and probably pink hair."

For Smith, a cancer survivor who is in her ninth year as part of the ACS staff, the "Think Pink" campaign also has a personal element. Her flamboyant pink costume will be in memory of the late Brenda Campbell, a friend and ACS volunteer who died two years ago after a long battle with breast cancer.

"The Furman students have been very supportive of ACS, year-round," says Smith. "The 'Think Pink' game is another way we can raise awareness."