USD’s Jake Gilliam fighting cancer

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Former Torrey Pines Falcon turned USD Basketball team manager, Jake Gilliam, has begun a fight against cancer. In less than two weeks, he has raised more than $25,000 for the V Foundation.

Gilliam’s fundraising page reads:

 I am a 2017 graduate of Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, CA, where I played three years of varsity basketball. While in high school, I also coached for a youth club basketball program: Falcons Elite. Upon graduating from high school, I spent two years as a student-athlete on the Men’s Basketball team at the University of San Diego. After those two years, I decided to pursue my passion of coaching basketball. As a junior at USD, I was an assistant coach at Torrey Pines High School under the legendary John Olive & continued my work with the Falcons Elite program. At the beginning of the 2020-21 season, I received an opportunity to join the staff at USD as a student assistant coach handling operational responsibilities.

Everything in my life was normal until Wednesday of this week, when I received the life-changing news that I had testicular cancer. It was a sobering reminder of how quick everything in life can change. Next week I will be having surgery, and more will be known about the next steps in treatment at that time.

Over the past few days, I’ve decided that I want to turn this negative news for me personally into a positive. I am asking for your help in two ways: A) Spread awareness – if something isn’t right with your body, get it checked out. See a doctor. B) If you are financially able, please direct your support to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The research the V Foundation funds is critical. By making a donation you will be supporting carefully vetted, cutting-edge research at prominent cancer centers nationwide. Hopefully we can one day get to a world where no one has to hear the words my family heard on Tuesday, February 2nd – “You have cancer.”

Why the V Foundation? It was started by a fellow college basketball coach – Jim Valvano – and I hope that we can turn this diagnosis into a positive contribution for the future of cancer research. Please reach out to me with any questions. You can read more about the V Foundation at the bottom of this section.

THANK YOU!

To visit Gilliam’s fundraising page, click here.