A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

Make no mistake about it, Baylor freshman Tounde Yessoufou hates losing.

But when he saw the smile on the face of Michael Montague, a 13-year-old cancer survivor who got to hang out with the Baylor men's basketball team on Friday after he "rang the bell" two weeks ago, it put adversity in a different light.

"I'm sure as a parent, you would never want to see a kid go through that," said Yessoufou, whose Bears (11-7, 1-5) will face TCU (12-7, 2-4) at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Foster Pavilion. "You'd rather go through it yourself than seeing that. But to see the smile on his face and how he's dealt with it, I have so much respect for him, for sure."

The Montague family got a behind-the-scenes look at Baylor basketball and will be recognized during Saturday's Coaches Against Cancer game, with coach Scott Drew donning a pair of shoes designed by Michael and his mom, Gretchen Montague.

"The shoes are big-time," said Drew, whose team is trying to snap a three-game losing streak at home. "Now, we don't want to screw them up and lose in them."

One of the inscriptions on the shoes is "Nadia's Warriors," a friend of Michael's who passed away.

"She was always saying, 'Stay positive. Keep smiling,''' Michael said. "And that just helped me get through it. I think it would help everybody that gets cancer. If they kept doing that, they would get through it a lot easier."

Nothing has come easy for Michael since August 2023, when "life got turned upside down for all of us," Walter Montague said. That's when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

"The treatment is very difficult and very time-consuming and arduous," said Walter, Michael's father. "We learned very quickly to take every day one day at a time, one step at a time. The first 30 days were incredibly hard on Michael, especially, and for us as caregivers and parents. After 30 days, they expect him to go into remission. And he did. Unfortunately, remission with leukemia means they think they got it all, but they're not sure. So, you have to do treatment for another two years."

A little over two years later, on Jan. 8, Michael got to "ring the bell" at McLane's Children's Hospital in Temple, that he was cancer-free.

Describing the moment as "happy, loud, fun," Michael said it meant that "I'm finished. No more chemo."

"The ringing of the bell was just an incredible experience," Walter said. "It wasn't all pomp and circumstance. It was really just the nurses and doctors and then our family and close friends that were able to be there and witness it.

"There was no doubt, from the first night we were there until the day we rang the ball, we were glad we stayed at McLane's Children's. . . . We got to know every single oncologist, every single doctor, every single nurse at the oncology clinic. We were blessed and grateful that we were able to get through it with the wonderful people that helped us get through it."

Now a seventh-grader at River Valley Middle School in the Midway ISD, Michael has played two years of Little League baseball and is now playing for his school's basketball team.

"I'm really excited to go back to school (on Monday)," Michael said. "A lot of my friends are probably going to be really jealous because I got to hang out with the Baylor basketball team."

Coach Drew said it's "always a blessing to see the courage and see the toughness" of kids like Michael battling cancer.

"I think for our players and for our staff, it's just an opportunity to say thank you and let them know how much they inspire us and how grateful we all are to be able to do what we do," said Drew, whose mother, Janet, died of cancer a year and a half ago. "I think it's a reality check, too, just that each and every day you're alive is a blessing. Losing is no fun, but being alive and having a chance to play a fun game, that's a blessing."

The game against TCU is a rematch of last month's Big 12 opener, when the Horned Frogs pulled out a 69-63 win in Fort Worth.

"We've got to get our get-back," said Yessoufou, who is averaging 17.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. "We weren't happy at all (with the first game). Now, they're coming to our crib, and it's time for us to defend our crib. . . . We're trying to take the losing out of our mouth, and just to be locked-in."

Saturday's game was moved to an ESPN broadcast, with Pete Sousa and former Baylor basketball standout King McClure calling the action.

A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

Players Mentioned

Tounde Yessoufou

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