EAST SYRACUSE MINOA CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT — East Syracuse Minoa DECA is hosting its third annual “Costello Classic” to raise money for cancer research this Saturday, Dec. 14.

The event will take place in the gymnasium of ESM Central High School, located at 6400 Fremont Road in East Syracuse, and it will feature a student-versus-staff basketball game starting at 5:30 p.m. followed by a game involving ESM alumni that tips off at 7 that evening.

The $5 tickets covering admission to both games will be available to purchase at the door the night of the event.

All proceeds raised the day of the basketball event go to benefit the V Foundation for Cancer Research, and people can also make a tax-deductible donation online either beforehand or after the fact through the registered DIY fundraiser’s own page on v.org found by typing “2024 Costello Classic” into the search bar or finding it using the “Events & Fundraisers” tab.

For the upcoming community event, a person can make their contribution even more meaningful by dedicating their donation in honor of someone in their own life affected by cancer.

Bob Anzalone, the adviser for ESM DECA and himself a three-time survivor of multiple solitary plasmacytoma, said the fundraiser will be a “fun, affordable event for a family to attend” and that he hopes to see a large turnout there.

The V Foundation was founded in 1993 by ESPN and North Carolina State coach turned commentator Jim Valvano, who would die that same year from metastatic adenocarcinoma. Making it its singular mission to achieve victory over cancer, that charitable organization has, to date, awarded over $353 million in cancer research grants according to its website.

The entirety of direct contributions are awarded to the cause of funding cancer research and programs thanks to an endowment supported by donors that covers the foundation’s administrative and operating expenses.

Anzalone called the V Foundation a “game-changer” that saves lives and gives people more of a fighting chance, therefore “every dollar and donation matters,” he said.

Anzalone added that this year the Costello Classic coincided with V Week, a stretch of time meant to raise awareness for the cause, celebrate Valvano, and encourage people with his famous parting instruction “don’t ever give up.” V Week lasts slightly longer than an actual week, having begun on Dec. 3, which was Giving Tuesday, and concluding Dec. 15, the day after ESM’s fundraising games.

ESM’s night of entertainment and giving is named in memory of Larry Costello, a 2022 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee born and raised in Minoa.

A 1949 graduate of Minoa High School, where he was a three-sport athlete, Costello went on to make the NBA All-Star team six times and win the league’s 1967 championship as point guard for the Philadelphia 76ers.

He then coached in the NBA through the 1970s, taking the Milwaukee Bucks to their first-ever title win in 1971.

There was even a short stint in between when Costello came back home to coach the Spartans after East Syracuse and Minoa merged to make ESM, leading the school district’s boys basketball team to the 1965-66 county championship.

Beyond his local connection, Costello also passed away from cancer in December 2001, another reason the fundraising event is named in his honor.

The ESM school district’s DECA club teaches students modern business skills and provides them with hands-on event-planning experience and opportunities to help nonprofits.

Aimed at building positive relationships within the community, ESM DECA’s students approached local businesses about signing on as sponsors leading up to the Costello Classic, and so far this year about 30 have stepped up as sponsors.

Ejla Muhic, an ESM junior working on the project, said preparing for the fundraiser took “a lot of patience” and solid communications among the event planners.

A member of DECA since her freshman year, Muhic has been involved with every Costello Classic since the inception of the event, and she said she enjoys seeing people come together for the worthwhile, powerful cause and watching the event “come to life” as an enjoyable night out for everybody.