Kansas State University Athletics
This Year’s Play 4 Kay Pink Game Hits Differently
Feb 21, 2022 | Women's Basketball, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie sits in the postgame news conference after the Wildcats' 56-38 victory over Oklahoma State on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum. He wears a white t-shirt that reads, "POWER OF ONE" in pink lettering. On the back, reads one name, "SHANNA," also in pink.
K-State, 18-8 overall and 8-6 in the Big 12 Conference, needed a victory. It needed a victory pretty badly. It snapped a two-game losing skid and won for the second time in the month of February. The Wildcats maintain a top-6 standing in the league with four games left to play before the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.
"Every game is important," Mittie says.
But things are different.
Sunday is the first time K-State has played a game since Mittie posted on Twitter that his lovely wife, Dr. Shanna Mittie, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. As game schedule might have it, today is also the WBCA Kay Yow cancer awareness game, tabbed the annual "Pink Game." Mittie and All-American candidate Ayoka Lee and junior guard/forward Emilee Ebert sit in the postgame news conference. The speech in the locker room runs a little longer than normal.
Things are different.
"Every Kay Yow game is a big game in that, as women's basketball players and coaches, we recognize across the country that this is our movement," Mittie says. "I got to meet Kay before she passed, and this has been a tremendous event going on across the country for breast cancer awareness. Obviously, personally, that became something five weeks ago that hits your heart when you hear that word.
"For me personally, I just wanted to coach hard today, and I wanted them to play hard. I think they probably knew. Once Shanna told them on Tuesday, we haven't talked about it, but they probably knew. For me, I just wanted to coach well and help them and just get them to play hard and together."
He pauses.
"I just told them thank you in the locker room for playing that way."
K-State celebrates cancer survivors during the game and fans learn about local cancer fighting efforts, such as the fact that the Kay Yow games have raised more than $8 million for various cancer research over the years. The first 1,500 fans at the game received a purple and pink K-State women's basketball t-shirt. The team wears their white uniforms with pink trim. K-State cheerleaders hold pink pom-poms. Many of the crowd of 5,868 at Bramlage wear some shade of pink clothing.
A K-State fan dressed in pink by the K-State bench holds a sign that reads: "STRONG SHANNA SHALL SURVIVE."
Mittie on Thursday announced on Twitter that Shanna had been diagnosed with breast cancer, giving thanks to the KU Medical Center and the Women's Cancer Center, and adding that "as she faces this difficult challenge, we appreciate everyone's prayers and well wishes." The Mitties waited to announce anything publicly until they first met with family, team and staff. They have a medical team and a plan in place. Mittie tweeted that they "are confident it is treatable and beatable."
Dr. Mittie is a native of Junction City, Kansas, and a graduate of Chapman High School. They have three children, daughters Logan and Madison and son Jordan. Logan serves as the team's Director of Basketball Administration, while Jordan played defensive tackle for the K-State football team and their youngest, Madison, played women's basketball for Fort Hays State.
Every Kay Yow cancer awareness game hits home for many people. During a timeout, cancer survivors stand and are applauded by the rest of the crowd.
"Every Pink Game I've looked around the stands to see some of the women who are here and some of the families who are here who are supporting either somebody who is a breast cancer survivor or somebody who's in the fight right now like Shanna is," Mittie says. "It just felt a little deeper today. I think most women who have gone through this have a similar story of drawing strength from others who've been in the fight successfully. I wasn't oblivious to it, but I wanted to make sure I did my job. Before the game, I did spend a little extra time looking around the arena in seeing all the different people at the game."
Lee scores 17 points and grabs 13 rebounds and Ebert adds 13 points. K-State holds Oklahoma State to just 2 of 25 shooting in the first half. K-State takes a 22-6 lead into halftime. Things go badly for the Cowgirls, 8-15 and 3-10, but the game isn't on the mind of 11th-year head coach Jim Littell.
He opens his news conference thinking about the Mittie family.
"My prayers go to Coach Mittie's wife and Coach Mittie and his family," Littell says. "That's where my mind is right now. We'll be praying for them and wishing them the very best.
"I think everyone in this room and everyone in the arena has been touched by cancer somehow and your thoughts go to the people that are close to you that have been affected by this terrible disease," Littell continues. "That's where my thoughts are. I've had people affected by it and I know everyone has and that's a time to recognize the fight that these people have. We just had Pink Night at our place the other night and recognized the cancer survivors. That's what it's about."
Things are different.
After the game, Mittie presents Lee with a basketball to commemorate her 1,500th career point. But career point milestones aren't at the front of Lee's mind. Not today. And really, not ever.
Afterward, Lee says, "We love Shanna."
"Going into today's game there were a lot of things to play for," Lee says. "We always try to play for each other but today it just meant a little bit more. With it being the Pink Game, it just means more and it hits closer to home because we love Shanna. She's there for us on and off the court with whatever we need. I think everyone just kind of knew it meant a lot more."
Mittie, for the most part, keeps things relatively light. He says that if he steps away to be with Shanna too much that "she may kick me out sooner or later and say, 'Get back to coaching.'" He has an obvious plan, of course — one that is far more important than a win over Oklahoma State or any team.
"The priority for me is to be with my wife and to be there for her and we'll cross that bridge (of potentially missing games) if it comes," he says. "I'm hopeful not to miss anything but certainly my priority will be to make sure — we've got a lot of help, we're lucky. We have a lot of help around us. We have great people we've talked to in terms of her medical team. We've got family around us, but yeah, I'll do what's necessary for our family and our team and Shanna knows that. We anticipate there will be some practices (I'll miss) and we'll go from there."
Mittie and his players politely leave the postgame news conference in silence.
Things are different.
Kansas State head coach Jeff Mittie sits in the postgame news conference after the Wildcats' 56-38 victory over Oklahoma State on Sunday at Bramlage Coliseum. He wears a white t-shirt that reads, "POWER OF ONE" in pink lettering. On the back, reads one name, "SHANNA," also in pink.
K-State, 18-8 overall and 8-6 in the Big 12 Conference, needed a victory. It needed a victory pretty badly. It snapped a two-game losing skid and won for the second time in the month of February. The Wildcats maintain a top-6 standing in the league with four games left to play before the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.
"Every game is important," Mittie says.
But things are different.
Sunday is the first time K-State has played a game since Mittie posted on Twitter that his lovely wife, Dr. Shanna Mittie, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. As game schedule might have it, today is also the WBCA Kay Yow cancer awareness game, tabbed the annual "Pink Game." Mittie and All-American candidate Ayoka Lee and junior guard/forward Emilee Ebert sit in the postgame news conference. The speech in the locker room runs a little longer than normal.
Things are different.
"Every Kay Yow game is a big game in that, as women's basketball players and coaches, we recognize across the country that this is our movement," Mittie says. "I got to meet Kay before she passed, and this has been a tremendous event going on across the country for breast cancer awareness. Obviously, personally, that became something five weeks ago that hits your heart when you hear that word.
"For me personally, I just wanted to coach hard today, and I wanted them to play hard. I think they probably knew. Once Shanna told them on Tuesday, we haven't talked about it, but they probably knew. For me, I just wanted to coach well and help them and just get them to play hard and together."
He pauses.
"I just told them thank you in the locker room for playing that way."
K-State celebrates cancer survivors during the game and fans learn about local cancer fighting efforts, such as the fact that the Kay Yow games have raised more than $8 million for various cancer research over the years. The first 1,500 fans at the game received a purple and pink K-State women's basketball t-shirt. The team wears their white uniforms with pink trim. K-State cheerleaders hold pink pom-poms. Many of the crowd of 5,868 at Bramlage wear some shade of pink clothing.
A K-State fan dressed in pink by the K-State bench holds a sign that reads: "STRONG SHANNA SHALL SURVIVE."
Mittie on Thursday announced on Twitter that Shanna had been diagnosed with breast cancer, giving thanks to the KU Medical Center and the Women's Cancer Center, and adding that "as she faces this difficult challenge, we appreciate everyone's prayers and well wishes." The Mitties waited to announce anything publicly until they first met with family, team and staff. They have a medical team and a plan in place. Mittie tweeted that they "are confident it is treatable and beatable."
We are thankful for the people @KUMedCenter and the Women's Cancer Center. As she faces this difficult challenge we appreciate everyone's prayers and well wishes.
— Jeff Mittie (@JeffMittie) February 17, 2022
Dr. Mittie is a native of Junction City, Kansas, and a graduate of Chapman High School. They have three children, daughters Logan and Madison and son Jordan. Logan serves as the team's Director of Basketball Administration, while Jordan played defensive tackle for the K-State football team and their youngest, Madison, played women's basketball for Fort Hays State.
Every Kay Yow cancer awareness game hits home for many people. During a timeout, cancer survivors stand and are applauded by the rest of the crowd.
"Every Pink Game I've looked around the stands to see some of the women who are here and some of the families who are here who are supporting either somebody who is a breast cancer survivor or somebody who's in the fight right now like Shanna is," Mittie says. "It just felt a little deeper today. I think most women who have gone through this have a similar story of drawing strength from others who've been in the fight successfully. I wasn't oblivious to it, but I wanted to make sure I did my job. Before the game, I did spend a little extra time looking around the arena in seeing all the different people at the game."
Lee scores 17 points and grabs 13 rebounds and Ebert adds 13 points. K-State holds Oklahoma State to just 2 of 25 shooting in the first half. K-State takes a 22-6 lead into halftime. Things go badly for the Cowgirls, 8-15 and 3-10, but the game isn't on the mind of 11th-year head coach Jim Littell.
He opens his news conference thinking about the Mittie family.
"My prayers go to Coach Mittie's wife and Coach Mittie and his family," Littell says. "That's where my mind is right now. We'll be praying for them and wishing them the very best.
"I think everyone in this room and everyone in the arena has been touched by cancer somehow and your thoughts go to the people that are close to you that have been affected by this terrible disease," Littell continues. "That's where my thoughts are. I've had people affected by it and I know everyone has and that's a time to recognize the fight that these people have. We just had Pink Night at our place the other night and recognized the cancer survivors. That's what it's about."
Things are different.
After the game, Mittie presents Lee with a basketball to commemorate her 1,500th career point. But career point milestones aren't at the front of Lee's mind. Not today. And really, not ever.
Afterward, Lee says, "We love Shanna."
"Going into today's game there were a lot of things to play for," Lee says. "We always try to play for each other but today it just meant a little bit more. With it being the Pink Game, it just means more and it hits closer to home because we love Shanna. She's there for us on and off the court with whatever we need. I think everyone just kind of knew it meant a lot more."
Mittie, for the most part, keeps things relatively light. He says that if he steps away to be with Shanna too much that "she may kick me out sooner or later and say, 'Get back to coaching.'" He has an obvious plan, of course — one that is far more important than a win over Oklahoma State or any team.
"The priority for me is to be with my wife and to be there for her and we'll cross that bridge (of potentially missing games) if it comes," he says. "I'm hopeful not to miss anything but certainly my priority will be to make sure — we've got a lot of help, we're lucky. We have a lot of help around us. We have great people we've talked to in terms of her medical team. We've got family around us, but yeah, I'll do what's necessary for our family and our team and Shanna knows that. We anticipate there will be some practices (I'll miss) and we'll go from there."
Mittie and his players politely leave the postgame news conference in silence.
Things are different.
Players Mentioned
G
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