Joshua Brown, a nine-year old cancer patient that had befriended the St. Louis basketball team during the 2012-2013 season, passed away over the weekend.
Brown had been connected with the Billikens through a program called Friends of Jaclyn that links children with brain tumors to college sports teams. He had suffered from glioblastoma multiforme.
Brown was decked out at St. Louis home games in a Billiken jersey, and even traveled with the team to San Jose for their opening weekend in NCAA tournament play. He was so dedicated to St. Louis, that he wouldn’t let his fandom be bought by a kind gesture and a care package from Butler back in February. Every sports fan can respect that.
Tom Timmerman of STLToday.com wrote a terrific story on Brown’s friendship with the players on the St. Louis team back in January. For a team that was still reeling from the loss of their former coach Rick Majerus, Brown did just as much to help the Billikens heal as they did to cheer him up in his final months.Josh packed an awful lot of passion into a small body. And he did an awesome Jim Crews impression. He’ll be missed.
— Tom Timmermann (@tomtimm) June 3, 2013
Our biggest fan passed away today. You will be missed Joshua. Please send your thoughts and prayers to Rhonda, Doug and Allison.
— SLU Men’s Basketball (@SaintLouisMBB) June 3, 2013
RIP Josh.
You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.