Basketball classics are a staple in South Dakota. And while some have been going on for numerous years, a new one held its inaugural event this past weekend in Hurley. The Midwest Miracles Classic, which consisted of sixteen teams, boys and girls, from South Dakota and a few from out of state, celebrating the sport of basketball while raising awareness towards something much bigger.
The Midwest Miracles Classic was created in part by former Viborg-Hurley boys basketball player Kobee Sherman. Following his junior season of basketball, he was diagnosed with bone cancer. Even though his battle is still ongoing, you wouldn’t know it from his overall positive attitude and ambition to make a difference.
Sherman created the Midwest Miracles Foundation, which is a non-profit designed to raise awareness and funds for pediatric cancer families.
“We can help out with anything they need,” said Sherman. “We kind of did it, because I felt great support from everybody around me, and I want to give other people, going through such horrible battles, the same feeling.”
Up next was the idea to take the foundation to another level and create a basketball classic to go along with it. With all the money raised going towards Sherman’s foundation, it only made sense to call it the Midwest Miracles Classic.
“Basketball is super important to me. I used to spend hundreds of hours sitting in the gym shooting around. It’s sort of a happy place to me,” he mentioned. “It kind of got taken away from me, unfortunately, but I want to give kids the fun atmosphere of playing in a classic that’s for a great cause.”
Throughout the day, fans from across the state flocked to Hurley. The Pine Ridge Thorpes were one of the teams who made the trip to play. After their game, coach Casey Means presented Kobee with a star quilt. Means mentioned how the quilt is given to those who are recognized as a warrior and how Kobee’s battle and desire to raise money for other cancer families exemplifies him as a warrior.
“It's just kind of cool to see how big of opportunities you have as a person. You can get up and be happy, or you can get up and be mad. I’m the type of person, even if I’m feeling sick, or even if I’m doing very good, I’m going to have a smile on my face and be happy for everything else,” Sherman exclaimed. “I just want people to take advantage of all their opportunities, because there are so many opportunities that you have out in the real world, and if you take advantage of them, you can be a really great person.”
The overall efforts of the Midwest Miracle Classic extended much further than just Kobee as well. Countless people from the Viborg-Hurley school district, who have supported Kobee through his journey with cancer, volunteered their time to make the event come to life.
“It means a bunch. Obviously, Viborg and Hurley communities are closest to my heart because I live here. I don’t ever want to leave. I want to come back here and support the community as they did to me. I really love this community, just a lot of great people, and it was just our communities, it was a bunch of communities that came together,” said Sherman. “We’ve got a lot of basketball rivals, or you think you don’t like a school, but when something happens like this, everybody’s one team, and everybody is battling it together.”
While the first year in Hurley was a big success, the goal is to try to make this event bigger in the future, which could come, potentially, with a bigger venue – the Corn Palace.
“That was one of my biggest dreams, I wanted to play in the Corn Palace, he said with a smile. “I am hoping to get the Midwest Miracles Classic up there to give kids the same opportunity to reach their dreams like I got to.”
SDPB will feature Kobee's story and the Midwest Miracle Classic in its 'Tales from the Hardwood' show, which will air Thursday, February 27th, at 8 pm CT on SDPB1-TV.
