Jalen Hill never lost sight of 4-year-old Leone Parks.
From the start of Dribble for the Cure, the UCLA men’s basketball redshirt freshman forward stuck beside the young cancer patient, pushing his stroller and listening to his every word.
“He just wanted to talk the whole time,” Hill said. “He talked about what he does every day and he enjoyed what today was, so I just went along with it.”
Hill participated in the event with the rest of the men’s and women’s basketball teams, walking alongside families of cancer patients that the players were assigned to.
“It just opened my eyes to a lot,” Hill said. “People don’t even know what he’s going through, but he’s just enjoying life. It just made me smile.”
Men’s basketball coach Steve Alford – who has led the Bruins in the event for the past six years – said the presence of the athletes is something the children will remember for a long time.
“You can have guys that just don’t engage and aren’t interactive with (the children),” Alford said. “(But) you saw (the men’s and women’s teams) shooting around with the kids, walking with them and dribbling with them across campus and actually diving into their lives, even if it’s for a couple hours.”
Men’s basketball sophomore guard Joseph Wallace and freshman guard David Singleton played games of one-on-one against some of the participants after they crossed the finish line in Pauley Pavilion.
“They beat Joe, but they didn’t beat me,” Singleton said.