A Coach's Continued Example

UAB Legend Gene Bartow Brings Together UAB Athletics and Comprehensive Cancer Center

Brian Mackin, Ruth and Coach Gene Bartow, and Ed Partridge

UAB athletics is not only winning on the court these days, but also in the lab, thanks to Gene Bartow, former UAB men’s basketball coach and athletic director. By establishing the Gene Bartow Fund, he has opened the door for donors to UAB athletics to also support cancer research at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The inaugural UAB Health System Gene Bartow Classic, a men’s basketball game to benefit the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, tipped off in December. The Bartow Classic, along with the Pink Zone women’s basketball game, raises money for the Gene Bartow Fund, which also receives donations and support from other targeted fund-raising events. The Bartow Classic honors the coach, who currently is undergoing treatment at the Cancer Center for stomach cancer. Recently inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, Coach Bartow is considered the founding father of UAB athletics.

“We are proud to partner with UAB athletics in the fight against cancer,” says Comprehensive Cancer Center director Edward Partridge, M.D., “and the Bartow Fund in particular will have a significant impact on our research of the disease. It’s an honor for us to be associated with someone of Coach Bartow’s caliber, and we at the Cancer Center thank him and UAB athletics for all their support.”

Maintaining the Momentum / Summer 2010