Brandi Zimmerman was on the minds of the Illinois men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball players during the Dawn til Dusk basketball marathon played on Friday. Zimmerman, who had cerebral palsy, died in a car accident in September of 2005. She was on three wheelchair basketball national championship teams while competing for Illinois.

This is the second year of the event at Huff Hall. Most of the money raised goes to team expenses, including equipment. The basketball marathon featured all-day competition between Orange and Blue squads comprised of both men and women.

A portion of the money raised during the charity event is going to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, an organization interested in the health and development of children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. The institute will give the money collected to the Bennett Blazers, a junior wheelchair sports program from which Illinois recruited Zimmerman when she was in high school.

“(The basketball marathon) is important because we get to give back to something that she would have supported,” said Sarah Castle, a senior on the women’s team. “I love the idea of us doing something that requires more of ourselves than we’d normally expect.”

The 6:54 a.m. tip-off coincided with the sunrise, and play didn’t stop until 6:27 p.m. After almost 12 hours of play, the Orange team defeated the Blue team 867-846.

Head coach Mike Frogley noted that the athletes needed to be in great shape in order to have the endurance to fulfill playing for the entire charity marathon, and the average athlete played five hours.

“Mentally, it’s a lot of work because you have to stay focused, but physically, just scrimmaging for five hours in a day is exhausting,” junior Carlee Hoffman said.

The teams, however, simply want to keep Zimmerman’s memory alive. Being from Baltimore, she was a huge Ravens and Orioles fan, and her favorite athlete was Cal Ripken Jr. Like Ripken, Zimmerman was known for giving her maximum effort.

“She is always willing to give 110 percent for everybody else,” said Jennifer Ruddell, who finished up her last year competing for Illinois last year. “She’s like your ultimate team player.”

Zimmerman’s legacy is living on, and she is still having an impact on the athletes.

Ruddell said Zimmerman didn’t let her cerebral palsy get her down, even though there is frustration because it affects fine motor skills.

“Makes you not take things for granted,” Ruddell said.

Teammates were happy that they got to take part in an event that will directly help men and women from the same program that helped Zimmerman. It gave extra meaning to the day-long scrimmaging, which can get monotonous.

“Brandi’s heart was in wheelchair basketball,” Hoffman said. “She lived and breathed sports. Just to be able to give something back by doing something that she loved, and we loved with her, is really great.”

Charity events ultimately are for good causes, and the team truly appreciates support. But when the dust settles, the athletes like that money is going in honor of someone they truly appreciate and miss.