Bigger Than Basketball

Eudora might be a small community compared to its neighbors, but the town knows its basketball. After all, the memory of the Eudora’s boys basketball state championship in 2014 is still fresh.

But there was a basketball game that took place in the Eudora High School gymnasium last year that will be remembered for years, that impacted lives, and not because of the game’s final score. The game included several professional players and even one NCAA Men’s Basketball National Player of the Year … yet even former KU star and current Milwaukee Buck Frank Mason took a backseat to the true stars of the evening.

For the first time, the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic, an annual charity basketball game benefiting children battling cancer or other challenging illnesses, was held right here in Eudora. Organized by the “Voice of the Jayhawks,” Brian Hanni, the game included former Jayhawk standouts such as Cole Aldrich, Perry Ellis, Ben McLemore and 2008 National Championship guard Sherron Collins.

Despite collecting such an impressive list of accolades, those players all knew this game wasn’t about them. “It was a fun event— I’m happy to be back,” Mason told reporters following the game. “This is bigger than basketball. I just wanted to contribute in any way that I can.”

Every Rock Chalk Roundball Classic highlights a group of five youngsters known as “The Starting Five.” Each one is battling a serious illness, and the charity game is a benefit for their journey.

Taylia Vannicola, daughter of Jason and Nicole Vannicola, was part of The Starting Five in 2019. Taylia has Down syndrome and was born with a congenital heart defect; she had to have open-heart surgery when she was only four months old. The Vannicolas were hopeful that it would be smooth sailing after that. It turns out, things got much worse.

In July 2018, her father, Jason, suffered two strokes that almost killed him. A month later, on the two-month anniversary of her heart surgery, Taylia was diagnosed with leukemia.

“We had a couple big hits right back-to-back,” Nicole Vannicola says. “We had a lot of strength in God, and that’s what got us through it. Because it was a lot to handle in a short time.”

But this isn’t a sad story: Despite those hardships, both Taylia and Jason are doing great today.

“When Taylia started chemotherapy, she soared through everything,” Nicole says. “She didn’t struggle with being sick or overly tired, or any of those things. She really handled everything so well … better than I did!”

Taylia, who recently turned 4, has been cancer-free for over a year. As for Jason’s health, he says he’s almost back to 100 percent, and he’s returned to work as an IT professional.

“Taylia is a little fireball … she’s always on the move, happy-golucky. She’s a wonderful addition to our family,” he says. “My middle daughter Laikyn loves to snuggle with her, and even though they each have their own bed, she is always begging to have sleepovers.”

Above: Nicole, Taylia, and Jason Vannicola received support from the 2019 Rock Chalk Roundball Classic—they also got to enjoy the game.

Brian Hanni, the radio play-by-play announcer for the Kansas Jayhawks, started the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic when he was asked by his friend Brandon White, a youth pastor who was battling cancer, if he could use his Kansas basketball connections to create a fundraiser for children. The charity is now going into its 12th year.

“My eyes opened to the fact that I had connections with former KU players, and if I could get them all together for one night, it could be something amazing,” Hanni says. “Sadly, before that first game, Brandon went to the Lord. But then I thought, what if we can keep building on this?”

That first Rock Chalk Roundball Classic raised about $12,000. Now, the event raises closer to twenty times that amount and includes a golf outing with players and a dinner event. Hanni hopes that by 2022, they’ll crack the $1 million mark for all the Roundball Classics combined. The money raised is a huge relief for the families who are battling mounting medical bills.

“All the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic people who put it on were so amazing,” Jason says. “The impact all the people who came out to support the charity—all of them—had on our life was significant. Financially and otherwise. It brought so much joy to all of us who got to attend.”

“The financial support was a super amazing blessing, because when you’re going through something like that, hard things come … bills come … and at the same time, my husband hadn’t been working because of the strokes,” Nicole Vannicola says. “Because of the financial support we had, we were able to keep our focus on Taylia.”

Travis Releford rises for a dunk at the 2019 Rock Chalk Roundball Classic at Eudora High School.

So will the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic return to Eudora? Maybe not immediately, but Hanni says it’s likely, based on how well the town and the Eudora High School athletics department supported the event.

“In the past, it was at Free State High School or Lawrence High School … we found out last year that both of those venues were unavailable due to construction,” Hanni says. “We thought about moving it to Topeka … but Eudora is right there between Lawrence and Kansas City, and because of the close proximity to both, it was ideal.”

Hanni has lived in the Lawrence area for 20 years and was already familiar with Eudora. Now that he’s met some of the people here, he’s an even bigger fan.

“The athletics staff and Cara Kimberlin, the Eudora High School athletic director, were all so accommodating, so generous with their time,” Hanni says. “It takes elbow grease to put these games on—you have to move some mountains.”

But of all the Eudora residents he met, it’s clear that he’s impressed with Taylia Vannicola the most.

“She is such an incredible little lady, her zest for life could light up the whole town!” Hanni says with a voice that sounds like he just described a game-winning threepointer. “She has an infectious smile, a positive vibe. Spend even five minutes with her, and your face hurts because you’ve been smiling so hard.”

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