North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Young Wolfpack fan presented with a prize
5/17/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
May 17, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Devin Ganoe, a third grader at Raleigh's Hilburn Elementary School, really wanted an autographed basketball he saw at a fund-raiser for a local chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
It seemed like the perfect thing for a 9-year-old Wolfpack fan that was declared on April 1, 2004, to be in remission after a four-year battle with acute lymphocytic leukemia.
It couldn't, of course, make up for the weeks he spent in the hospital shortly after he was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 4.
And it couldn't make up for the embarrassment of losing his hair, as he endured a month of aggressive chemotherapy, many more months of moderate chemotherapy and nearly two years of maintenance chemotherapy. In all, he spent two-and-a-half years undergoing painful spinal taps, bone marrow aspirations and a fistful of pills he needed to take every day to rid himself of the potentially fatal disease.
The ball was to be signed by new Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe and former NC State player Monte Towe, the two starting point guards on the school's NCAA title teams in 1983 and 1974. Devin begged his mom, Cheryl Loeffel, to put a bid on it. She offered $50, as much as she could afford.
Devin was crushed when the ball sold for $500 in the annual fundraiser.
What he didn't know was that the four men who bought the ball - Wake County Schools assistant superintendent Mike Burriss, Alexa Corporation president Charlie Alexander, Shaw Appraisal Service owner Chris Shaw and Wardson Construction president Steve Ward - did so with the intention of giving it to Devin.
"We knew from the start of the auction that Devin should get that ball, so we pooled together our resources and got it for him," Alexander said.
Wednesday afternoon, Burriss and Alexander joined Towe for a third-grade assembly at Hilburn Elementary to make a surprise presentation of the ball. Towe signed the ball and promised that Lowe, who was named the Wolfpack's 18th head coach on May 6, would do the same when he arrives in Raleigh after July 1.
For now, Lowe is still tied up as an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, who are battling the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA playoffs. It didn't matter to Devin that Lowe wasn't on hand. He was tickled to be recognized at the assembly and to receive the coveted keepsake.
"I was a little nervous when they called me up there," Devin said. "I didn't know what to do."
Loeffel, who also attended the assembly, said Devin shows no signs of the illness that began with simple flu-like symptoms more than five years ago, but quickly developed into the life-threatening disease.
"Now, you would never know he had been sick," Loeffel said. "He's an energetic, caring little boy."
Not at all like the kid who spent three years being sick to his stomach and fatigued from both the disease and the treatments to destroy it.
Devin wants people to know that he still wakes up tired on most mornings. But that's mostly due to his 1-year-old sister, Kate. He goes in her room every day at 7:30 a.m., gets her out of bed and takes her to their mom.
"I can't imagine a better way to start the day," Loeffel said
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
