ASU men's basketball coach Bobby Hurley can be described as one of the most passionate and hard-working coaches in all of college basketball, yet his commitment to bettering those around him doesn’t end on the court.
This season, Hurley will join 47 other NCAA Division I men’s basketball coaches to compete in Infiniti's "Timeout for the Win" campaign – a contest in which the coaches compete for fan votes and where the top three winners will have thousands of dollars donated in their name.
In the campaign, Infiniti will donate $1 million in total to the Coaches vs. Cancer program to help fund cancer research, with $600,000 of that sum being divvied up among the coaches in correlation with fan votes.
The first place winner of the contest will have the largest portion of the $600,000 donated in his name, coming out to $360,000. The remaining funds will be split among the second and third place winners and donated to Coaches vs. Cancer on their behalf.
Fans are able to vote in a variety of different ways, whether online on the Infiniti site, posts on social media or through mobile messaging.
“I would love for everyone to get involved and get behind that,” Hurley said. “It’s such a great cause, and it’s an honor to be involved in this. I would certainly encourage everyone to vote if they can.”
Denis Cournoyer, a senior manager with the American Cancer Society, commended Hurley for his role in the competition.
“It’s an Arizona against cancer competition, and we are so appreciative that Coach Hurley has agreed to participate in the campaign and represent Arizona," Cournoyer said. “He is working hard with his team and his staff to help get us those funds.”
Coaches vs. Cancer is a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that has been operating for over 25 years to unite coaches and fans nationwide to help fight cancer.
The donations of those involved in the collaboration help fund support for cancer patients all around the state, securing the crucial resources they need to help combat the deadly disease. One specific cause that Hurley highlighted is in-home care and the ability of patients without reliable transportation to get to and from doctor’s appointments safely.
“Funds like this grant from Infiniti would allow us to expand our program,” Cournoyer said. “So that we never have to tell someone we can’t get them to treatment.”
The competition also represents an opportunity for Sun Devil nation to show its support for its coach and assert the fanbase as one of the most powerful in college basketball.
Only in his fourth year at ASU, Hurley has already entrenched himself as a member of the community. The heights he has reached in his short tenure has helped inspire a renewed passion within the Valley for Sun Devil basketball.
Hurley currently falls fourth on the "Timeout for the Win" leaderboard, with eight percent of the total votes. With only three days remaining in the contest, Hurley only trails Ohio State Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann, West Virginia Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins and Iowa State Cyclones coach Steve Prohm who each currently possess 10, 22 and 28 percent of the votes, respectively.
Fans only have until March 11 to help push Hurley to the top of the leaderboard and help him secure his portion of Infiniti’s $600,000 to be donated in his name.
“It’s sort of the fans' incentive to get involved in their local communities and get involved in voting,” Cournoyer said. “While also appreciating the support of the coaches as well as the support of Infiniti, the car dealership.”
Reach the reporter at Jrosenfa@asu.edu or follow @jacobrosenfarb on Twitter.
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