Basketball: Brennan Jarrett, 1989-2008

Pleasse take a moment to spare a thought for the family and friends of Brennan Jarrett .The 19-year-old Saskatchewan Huskies shooting guard died Monday during emergency surgery, 13 months after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

As Kevin Mitchell at the Saskatoon StarPhoenix details, Jarrett collapsed during a pickup game Sunday. He was only a couple months removed from open-heart surgery that resulted from complications related to the cancer.

Count yourself lucky if you have nothing in your background that could even let you relate to what this must be like for the Huskie hoops family. Jarrett, an engineering major and a graduate of Holy Cross right in Saskatoon, was projected to become one the Huskies' floor leaders in the years to come, and he had some pretty impressive outings early on his freshman year before the cancer diagnosis.

As recently as a few weeks ago, according to the National Post piece linked below, he was talking to his coaches about perhaps returning to game action at the Wesmen Classic.

Jarrett is survived by his parents, Rita and Pat, and two younger sisters, Natalie and Rachel. The Jarretts issued a statement on Tuesday:
"Beej was extremely proud to wear #14 for the past two seasons with the Huskies Men's Basketball team. Over the last year, Beej faced tremendous adversity as he battled cancer and other health related challenges. However, with the support of his family and friends, he handled each day with unbelievable courage, strength, patience, hope and humour. Just three weeks ago, he was given a clean bill of health and was so looking forward to playing with the Huskies in a tournament in Winnipeg after Christmas. Although it will certainly be difficult for our family to attend Huskies games and not see Beej on the court or bench, you will see us out again! We do find comfort in knowing that Beej's ultimate "slam-dunk" is arriving in Heaven - and because of his great faith and the way he chose to live his life, being named to God's All-Star Team!"
The Huskies are scheduled to play Ottawa on Sunday at the Wesmen Classic in Winnipeg.

He was a honourable mention in the recently published Best American Sports Writing 2008. He will probably be able to handle this story in greater and richer detail in tomorrow's editions.

In lieu of flowers the Jarrett family has asked that donations be made to the Huskie Men's Basketball Foundation. Donations can be sent to:
Huskie Men's Basketball Foundation
Huskie Athletics
87 Campus Dr.
Saskatoon, Sask.
S7N 5B2
Huskie Athletics will be renaming the Huskies Play For the Cure initiative in Jarrett's honour.

(Thanks to Huskie assistant coach Nathan Schellenberg for the link.)

Related:
University basketball player dies after pickup game (Kevin Mitchell, Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
University basketball player dies (Sarah Millar, Posted Sports)
Brennan Jarrett, Huskie guard, passes away (huskiehoops.com)
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2 comments:

  1. Neate,

    Sad stuff, my thoughts are with the family. As a Bruins fan, I saw Phil Kessel go thru the same thing and so far so good. I guess not all are happy endings in the world of cancer.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Saskatoon sports writer11/10/2009 2:11 am

    RIP Beej,

    Never knew you, but have got the opportunity to hear about you from coaches and players in my journalist duties. I'm glad to have indirectly met your acquaintance. The Huskies miss you bro---give em' a winning season from upstairs

    ReplyDelete