Bill Hoffman knew Julian Blanks was hot stuff on the basketball court.
Hoffman coached the seventh- and eighth-grade boys at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in the early 1990s. He watched Blanks put his prized left-handed shooting touch to effective use.
And when that wasn't enough to warm up the team, Hoffman had a spicy incentive.
"I had a nickname for Julian," Hoffman, 58, said. "I called him Jalapeno, because when he got hot he was as hot as a pepper. It used to make him laugh because when he missed a foul shot, I'd just yell, 'Jalapeno!' The next (foul shot) was almost always good."
As were a lot of shots that Blanks attempted. After graduating from St. John in 1994, he went on to excel at Cathedral Prep and as a four-year starter for NCAA Division I LaSalle.
Blanks' performances helped him achieve his lifelong dream of a professional career.
One that likely ended March 7.
Playing for Vitoria SC/Guimaraes, Blanks grew ill during a Portuguese League game against Academica de Coimbra. He was taken to a hospital, where the 28-year-old was quickly diagnosed with B-Cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Cancer.
Blanks returned to Erie, where he began chemotherapy to stop an opponent tougher than any in uniform. To assist him, the St. John community organized a fundraiser for this Saturday to help defray the family's medical bills.
The event will run from 6 p.m. to midnight in the school's gym and cafeteria, 504 E. 27th St. The $10 donation is highlighted by an auction of sports memorabilia, a selection of which were exhibited during Thursday's news conference at the school.
Also, a 30-minute highlight reel of Blanks' college and pro career also will be continuously shown throughout the night.
Julian Blanks and his mother, Darlene, will try to make an appearance according to Bill Dopierala, president of the St. John's Alumni and Friends Association. Also scheduled to show is Marcel Arribi, Blanks' varsity coach at Prep.
Arribi was on the sideline and Blanks on the court when the Ramblers reached the 1996 PIAA Class AAAA title game against Kobe Bryant-led Lower Merion. Months later, Bryant was a teenager playing in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Blanks also had professional aspirations. Stints in the USBL and the ABA preceded his first season in Europe.
Mel Witherspoon knew of Blanks' dream before most. The former Gannon basketball star coached St. John's fifth- and sixth-grade boys team around the same time as Hoffman.
"He was determined," Witherspoon said of Blanks. "He'd say to me, 'Coach, I'm going to play pro ball.' Of course, I said, 'Yeah, you can do it,' but then I watched him actually do it. His determination to give himself the chance, that was the exciting part about Julian. We were a ladder that helped him keep moving up, but he climbed it."
B-Cell comprises an estimated 85 percent of non-Hodgkin lymphomas in the nation, according to American Cancer Society statistics. However, Blanks' initial diagnosis is that it had spread to his stomach, liver and spleen.
"We've heard Julian is doing well," said Vern Gambill, a St. John committee member and a Blanks family friend. "The treatments seem to be working, and that's the encouraging part."
Still, Blanks' battle is uncertain.
"These last months haven't been fun," an emotional Hoffman said. "I've coached thousands of kids ... but Julian is probably the best athlete I ever coached at St. John."
MIKE COPPER can be reached at 870-1614 or by e-mail. To see more of the Erie Times-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.GoErie.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Erie Times-News, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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