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Marcus Allen, fighting cancer, helps lead Miami’s NCAA Tournament celebration after win

By The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Marcus Allen’s stat line from Miami’s NCAA Tournament win over Missouri: zero points, zero rebounds, one sticker.

And the Hurricanes couldn’t have enjoyed anything more.

Allen — who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December and ruled out for the rest of the season — has been around his team as much as possible since beginning treatment and got the postgame honor of putting Miami’s name on the next line of the bracket after the Hurricanes beat Missouri on Friday night.

Allen started his college career at Missouri.

“Whenever Marcus is around, even before he was diagnosed with cancer, he is kind of the heartbeat of the team … the guy everybody kind of gravitated towards,” Miami coach Jai Lucas said going into the tournament. “Same thing when he is around and him being on this trip with us and being able to be back and forth in between treatments and practicing.”

Allen, when able, has been on the scouting team to get Miami ready for games. Going into the Missouri game, he played the role of Tigers star — and his former teammate — Mark Mitchell during Hurricanes’ practices.

Lucas said Allen has one chemotherapy treatment remaining. The Hurricanes have worn shirts in Allen’s honor for much of the season, a GoFundMe for his family — mostly fueled by Miami fans — raised nearly $90,000 and former Miami star Jack McClinton did a 3-point shootout at halftime of the team’s home regular-season finale as a fundraiser as well.

“When everything happened with Marcus, the biggest thing with Marcus is he wanted to still be treated like Marcus,” Lucas said. “So, we had to make sure we did that around the program. And for us as a team, it is just giving us the appreciation value that nothing is promised, and you can’t take anything for granted, and you have to go out and attack every day.”

The Hurricanes (26-8) play second-seeded Purdue (28-8) in St. Louis on Sunday for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Miami won seven games last season; Lucas has improved that total by 19 wins so far in his first year at the school, with a team that returned zero players from the 2024-25 club.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Cheryl Reeve steps away from the WNBA grind for a Hall of Fame induction

By The Associated Press
Cheryl Reeve is taking a break from her busy WNBA season to head to Knoxville this weekend and be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame. She's only the second WNBA coach to enter the Hall of Fame, joining former Houston Comets coach Van Chancellor, who was inducted in 2001. “(I appreciate) the magnitude of this recognition of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the great work that has gone into this institution,” Reeve said. “To walk around and see the history of how much has been done years before I could ever have this opportunity to coach. Grateful to the WNBA because I think there was some consideration given schedule wise.” Reeve will be joined by WNBA greats Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne in this year's class. Parker and Delle Donne also will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. Other inductees include ESPN broadcaster Doris Burke, Kirkwood Community College coach Kim Muhl, Spanish star Amaya Valdemoro, French great Isabelle Fijalkowski and Clemson's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Barbara Kennedy-Dixon.
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