INDIANAPOLIS — Casey McAlister was in his bed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital when he sat up and started giggling. He was 3, he was trying to understand the word “leukemia,” and he was giggling.
Joel Cornette had walked into the room.
“His hair is spiky!” Casey squealed, and a friendship was born. Cornette and Butler teammate Mike Monserez spent 45 minutes on Thanksgiving 2002 hanging out with the 3-year-old.
Casey’s father, WLW radio host Lance McAlister, still has no idea how Joel Cornette knew about Casey.
“The only thing I can think,” McAlister was saying on Tuesday, “is that Joel heard I was a Butler guy.