On January 8, my basketball coach told my team this story about a man named Julian Blanks. Blanks went to school at Cathedral Prep with our coach Pat Trotter. Trotter praised him, saying he was the best player he’d seen with his own eyes. In Blank’s high school career, he accumulated 1,102 points in total, which is third in the school’s rich history. He averaged 18.2 points per game in his senior year, which led him to play college basketball at La Salle University.

After his collegiate career, he played overseas for France and Portugal. Then, his hometown got a G League team, the Erie BayHawks. He tried out for them in their second or third year of existence, and Trotter said it was obvious he would make the team. He was so confident in Blanks’ ability, that Trotter said it was like “When will this tryout be over so I can play for the team?” It was like he just had to finish the day and he was on the team. 

Midway through the tryout, he got sick. He was nauseous, vomiting, and could barely play. Blanks didn’t know why. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with cancer. He couldn’t play the sport he loved and had dedicated his life and time to, at the expense of his own body and health. 

Trotter told us this story because Blanks sent him a recent video of the UCLA basketball head coach in a press conference after their loss to Michigan, which I thought played into the story of Blanks. Mick Cronin, the coach of UCLA’s basketball team, mentioned that his players were soft, lacked energy and passion, and were completely delusional. Blanks, I thought, was the opposite of this problem. Blanks beat cancer twice and still ended up playing basketball again afterwards.

Blanks showed true determination, strength, and a passion to not only keep fighting for his life but to play the sport he loved again. Blanks was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2011 by the city of Erie.