Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM — Utah Valley basketball coach Mark Pope would be happy to spend time with BYU’s Dave Rose, his former coaching mentor, without any hesitation.
Even when Rose’s Cougars dropped an 85-58 rout on Pope’s Wolverines in the team’s first-ever game played at the UCCU Center in Orem.
When the former dynamic BYU coaching duo reunited Tuesday afternoon on University Parkway in Orem, it wasn’t just to discuss ball screens and pick-and-rolls.
"Coaches vs. Cancer is a longstanding staple of college basketball," Pope said as the two appeared together as Subway "sandwich artists" to raise funds for cancer research. "We've all been touched in one way or the other by cancer, and this is one of the great functions of what we get to do (to spread awareness).
"Last year, we raised $27,000, which is great and made a tiny dent, and every little bit helps. It’s important, and the fact that we can come do this today is special."
Pope claimed he’s the superior sandwich artist, in large part because he would visit every Subway within walking distance to an NBA arena during his 10-year pro career.
"I was pretty frugal. So in the NBA, you can either eat a $60 burger or walk two blocks to Subway," Pope recalled. "In every NBA city, at every hotel we went to, I had a Subway staked out within walking distance."
Former teammate Reggie Miller even made fun of him for his Subway sandwich obsession, which often replaced the high-dollar diets of many of his NBA colleagues.
But when Pope turned to his right and saw the masterpiece that Rose was working on, he changed his opinion.
"I saw him put together a flatbread bacon-and-egg sandwich, and when you put the condiments on it, it looks like a piece of art. It was amazing," Pope said. "So I have to give the nod to Coach.
"But today we get to work as a team."
The cause is also important to Rose, who went through a well-documented bout with pancreatic cancer five years ago.
Amid twice annual checkups from his doctors, Rose has been given a clean bill of health, allowing him to focus on winning a West Coast Conference championship instead of health concerns.
He first became involved with Coaches vs. Cancer nearly three decades ago, as the head coach at Dixie State in St. George. He’s since been named president of the organization and has seen the foundation grow every year.
"It used to be a game; now it’s a week and two games. It used to be a pair of shoes, and now it's a tie," Rose said. "It's still suits-and-sneakers, but a lot of coaches don’t understand that it’s not polos-and-sneakers, either.
"It’s a little difficult to do everything here, because of the university's foundation work with the United Way. But we do the best we can to try to help fight (for) the cause, and find as many ways to raise money and awareness as we can."
Among those who ate lunch at the Subway on University Parkway was two-time cancer survivor Kelly Miller. The Utah resident and amputee survived a scare with bone cancer, then found out she had a metastatic lung tumor shortly thereafter.
In both instances, Miller said research was vital in helping her live another day — all the way to a Tuesday when she enjoyed sandwiches with Rose, Pope and assistants on both staffs like Tim LaComb and Quincy Lewis from BYU, and Chris Burgess and Cody Fueger from Utah Valley.
"Being able to go to a major research center and be a part of experimental chemotherapy — without it, I don’t think I would be here. I really don't," Miller said. "When I was diagnosed, the survival rate was 20 percent. It’s now 80 (percent)."
Most bone cancer patients don’t even require amputation, like Miller did when she was first diagnosed, she said.
"It's flipped the statistics completely," Miller said. "I have gotten asked why I don’t do something that helps my neighbor down the street. But this is for my neighbor down the street, and his neighbor down the street, and someone in Tennessee.
"Being a part of something like this that keeps all of us alive longer is critical. It’s absolutely critical."
