Former UCLA and BYU basketball player Melanie Pearson Day has stage IV breast cancer and has been given five years to live by doctors. She has chosen to live out her life (which she diaries on her personal blog) by marking off items on her bucket list.
One of those items? As a lifelong Duke fan, a chance to watch UNC-Duke at Cameron Indoor was high on the list.
She was able to do just that last week, thanks to the help of BYU women's coach Jeff Judkins. Judkins sent Mike Krzyzewski a letter detailing Day's situation and her wish to attend the rivalry game and within a week, Coach K's secretary was calling to set up the whole thing which Day described as a "basketball fantasy."
Here's the story via The Deseret News:
"I've dreamed of this for 25 years," said Day. "I grew up thinking, 'Wouldn't it be cool to go to this game someday?' When I put it on my bucket list, on my blog, never did I actually think I'd get tickets to it. Then I got tickets and I went to the game, but it was so much more than that. It's like a basketball fantasy."
It was more than just attending a game, too. Day got an up-close look at both teams before the whole thing went down by attending closed practices at both schools. She met Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski and UNC head coach Roy Williams, along with the players on both teams. She also got to hang with ESPN's College Gameday Crew of analysts that include Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Jay Williams and Set Greenberg.
Oh, and she was also gifted an entire closet full of Duke basketball gear in addition to attending the Duke pep rally before the game.
Best of all, her Duke team won in a thriller at Cameron Indoor, knocking off North Carolina 86-78.
"This is the game everyone comes to," said Day. "I was definitely just soaking up the experience, trying to enjoy every minute."
