FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Sam Coon has been playing basketball since he was in second grade, and football since sixth grade. For most of that time, he’s played with the same team at St. Mary Springs Academy in Fond du Lac.
“You really connect together and they really become like brothers,” Coon said.
But two years ago, his basketball career was disrupted.
“Summer of sophomore year, I ended up feeling a bump. . we didn't think anything too crazy of it because like, I was really active,” Coon said. “So I just thought maybe I fell and l bumped it.”
Tests in June 2021 revealed the bump on Sam's rib was Ewing Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer requiring fourteen rounds of chemotherapy over the course of a year.
“It's obviously difficult as a parent watching your child go through it, you know, it feels so helpless. There's not a whole lot you can do other than pray,” Sam’s dad Jeff Coon said.
Sam’s mom Connie said the family relied on support from the community—including Sam’s basketball team.
“It was something I hope we never have to do again, but we definitely got through it and we're stronger as a family and through faith and our community,” Connie Coon said.
But despite rigorous treatment, Sam’s dedication to his “brothers,” stayed strong.
“I was at every single game, every game I could be,” Sam said. “I was always there just being able to watch them and stuff. And then the coaches, they kind of had me in a coaching role when I was out because obviously. I still like a lot about it and I was trying to help my team anywhere I could.”
Coon's teammates said his support during his cancer treatment was an inspiration to the whole team.
“It was kind of heartbreaking, like when we first found out,” teammate Gavin Jahns said. “It kind of motivated us to kind of work harder.”
The team said Sam’s perseverance pushed them on and off the court.
“I think the fact that knowing that he was doing this while going through chemo just gave us that extra level of motivation,” teammate Lucas Rameker said. “Like, we can do it just for him. He wants to be out there like 100% But you know, he's trying his best. And then I think that just really helped us play better and faster.”
Gradually, Sam started to regain the strength to play again.
His coach Kyle Krueger said he’s become the school’s all-time leader in assists, and led the conference in assists this year.
“Anybody that was in the gym watching him try to compete, they just, they had to be inspired by him, and I know his teammates were,” Krueger said.
Sam is now nominated for the WIAA Spirit of Sport award,sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin. It’s an award dedicated to athletes and coaches who embody the "positive spirit of sport."
“Just being able to be up for this award is really, really cool, because like all the time we've all put in, like me and my teammates… they're all as excited as I am,” Sam said.
Sam is wrapping up his year with more good news. He’s now one-year cancer free.
He plans to play basketball in college next year; and as the rest of the team makes their own post-grad plans, they say their experience at St. Mary Springs will stay with them.
“I feel like it's just a bond that can never be broken,” Rameker said.
