Like a lot of Duke fans, we never much liked Eric Montross when he was at UNC, but were deeply affected by his relationship with 16-year-old cancer patient (we’ve also seen him listed at 15) Jason Clark when he was at UNC.
A lot of athletes do the PR thing and go in and visit, and that’s wonderful for the kids but takes minimal effort from the athletes who go back to their regular lives within a few hours.
Montross didn’t do that. He committed himself to a long-term relationship with the kid, to the point where many people thought it affected his play.