Jim Valvano: The Fighter

By in Sports Leaders

By TJ Schwannecke Wagner '17 “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up” – Jim Valvano Just eight weeks before Jim Valvano died of Cancer, he gave an inspirational speech at the 1993 ESPY awards. In his opening words, he said, “If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that is a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special.”  At the end of this prominent speech, he announced, with the help of ESPN that he would be dedicating the rest of his life to cancer research, known as The V Foundation. Since 2012, The V Foundation has raised 120 million dollars toward cancer research. Jim Valvano started as a basketball coach who won a national championship, but is better known for his character, inspirational ESPYs speech, and creating The V Foundation after being diagnosed himself. Personal James Thomas Valvano was born on March...