As Steven Jamison's body slowly succumbed to rectal cancer the past few months, IUPUI assistant coach Austin Parkinson tried to give the promising young guard an incentive to keep fighting.

Sometimes he'd phone Jamison to reassure him that a scholarship would still be waiting for him when he got healthy. Sometimes he'd text to remind Jamison he was welcome to call any time he needed to talk. And sometimes he'd e-mail to let Jamison know the coaches still had faith he'd one day follow in the footsteps of San Antonio Spurs guard George Hill, an IUPUI product and fellow alum of Indianapolis' Broad Ripple High School.