Hoops Coaches Put Feet (And Shoes) Forward To Fight Cancer

College basketball may be down to the Sweet 16 (from 11 conferences, now that is quite a bit of news in itself), but there is also a “Sweet 16″ of coaches that have joined Jim Boeheim and Mike Krzyzewski in providing signed shoes, basketballs and other memorabilia that will go to benefit cancer research via “Coaches vs. Cancer,” a consortium of the coaches association (NABC) and the American Cancer Society.

In addition to the Syracuse and Duke head men, the auction, set up through industry leader Steiner Sports, has items from the following coaches: Mike Anderson (Missouri), Tony Bennett (Virginia), George Blaney (Connecticut assistant), Bobby Cremins (Charleston), Mick Cronin (Cincinnati), Mark Few (Gonzaga), Bob Huggins (West Virginia), Lon Kruger (UNLV), Phil Martelli (St. Joseph’s), Bruce Pearl (Tennessee), Craig Robinson (Oregon State), Dave Rose (BYU), Bill Self (Kansas), Tubby Smith (Minnesota), Kevin Stallings (Vanderbilt) and Bruce Weber (Illinois).

Most of the coaches have donated team shoes to the project; a few have added photos and basketballs.

Boeheim and Krzyzewski are probably the two most well-known coaches in the game today.  I’m interested to see what their items go for in the auction, compared with the other coaches.

There are also some pieces in the “Coaches vs. Cancer” auction from sports stars like Larry Bird, Derek Jeter and Tom Seaver.