On Oct. 1, 2013, Lauren Hill verbally committed to play basketball at Mount Saint Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was her 18th birthday.
49 days later — WKRC Cincinnati reports — Lauren was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare form of inoperable brain cancer. It has a zero percent survival rate, and Lauren was given fewer than two years to live.
Despite receiving the worst possible prognosis, Lauren never gave up on her dream of playing college basketball. After finishing her senior season, Hill took her talents to Mount Saint Joe’s.
During fall practices, it became clear that Lauren’s condition was worsening and that she might pass before Mount St. Joe’s season opener against Hiram College on Nov. 15. “I knew in the back of my mind [the tumor] had grown. There isn’t anything to say, because they can’t do anything,” Hill told head coach Dan Benjamin. “One game. I want to play one college game.”
Hiram College agreed to play the game two weeks early, as long as the NCAA agreed to the rescheduling, and on Nov. 2, the two teams tipped off the 2014-2015 NCAA season.
On the game’s first possession, Hill took a pass in the paint and finished with a smooth left-handed layup, notching the first two points of the year.
WATCH:
At half time, Pat Summitt — the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach — presented Lauren with the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Pat Summitt Most Courageous Award, and after the game, ESPN announced that the #LayupForLauren campaign had already raised $40,000 toward DIPG research.