ESPN has caved to pop culture and ratings by announcing they will award the Arthur Ashe Awarad for Courage and Bravery in Sports to Caitlyn Jenner. This comes as a slap in the face to what was truly the greatest display of bravery in sports this year. Lauren Hill, who bravely battled terminal brain cancer while continuing to see her dream of playing college basketball come true. We are not discrediting the courage of Caitlyn for her decision, but rather ESPN, for choosing to not give the award to someone whose bravery and relevance to sports was unparalleled. This is an opportunity for ESPN to bring childhood cancer, the number one disease killer of children, into the spotlight.

Childhood cancer is one of the most underfunded diseases in the United States. It receives less than 4% of the National Institute of Health's budget for research.

Born in Greendale, Indiana, Hill's battle with cancer became public when the NCAA agreed to allow Mount St. Joseph to play Hiram College two weeks prior to the original game date so Hill could play. The location of the game was also originally moved from Hiram's Price Gymnasium to Mount St. Joseph's Harrington Center so that Hill would not have to travel the over 300 miles from Cincinnati to Hiram. However due to public interest in the game, it was later moved from the 2,000 seat Harrington Center to the 10,250 seat Cintas Center on the campus of Xavier University. She raised $1 million for pediatric cancer research with a Cincinnati telethon for The Cure Starts Now Foundation. The Foundation has raised $1.1 million thus far.

Wheaties has honored Hill with her picture on its cereal box.

Hill's family signed her up for hospice care on December 1, 2014.

After Hill played in four games and made five layups, Mount St. Joseph basketball coach Dan Benjamin announced that she would not play in future games but would like to stay on as an honorary coach.

On January 7, 2015, Hill served as Assistant Coach for Mount St. Joseph University women's basketball team.

On February 6, 2015, Hill was given an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree by Mount St. Joseph University.

On March 4, 2015, she was named to the all-conference first team in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. "This award is being presented to Lauren in recognition of her courage and outstanding leadership," said conference commissioner Chris Ragsdale.

On April 5, 2015, she was given the Pat Summitt Courage Award.

She died on April 10, 2015 at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. A public visitation and memorial service was held on April 13, 2015 at the Cintas Center with a private funeral and burial scheduled for April 15, 2015.