The Illinois women’s basketball team had a new face on its bench during Sunday’s Play 4Kay breast cancer awareness game.

Jen Smith wore a pink autographed Illinois jersey as she high-fived team members coming off the court and listened in on head coach Matt Bollant’s directions during timeouts.

Although Smith didn’t contribute on the court, she gave the team something to ponder during a pregame breakfast when she shared her story with the team.

In 2007, Smith, who was 30, was nursing her newborn son, Corbin, and she noticed a lump on her breast. Doctors identified the lump as breast cancer and prescribed six months of chemotherapy.

After the chemo ended, Smith thought the worst was behind her, but three months later, she realized she was mistaken.

In 2008, Smith’s cancer had spread to her bones, meaning that she now has terminal Stage IV breast cancer. Her life expectancy from that point was three years.

“Statistically, when I should have been dead two years ago, I left my dream job as an adviser at Parkland College,” Smith said. “I loved working there, but I knew my body couldn’t hold up with working full time, being a full-time cancer patient with treatment all of the time and, most importantly, taking care of my son.” 

When Smith was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, she made it her goal to see Corbin go to kindergarten in five years. The five-year survival rate for Stage IV cancer was 15 percent. In August, at 35 years old, she saw that dream come true on Corbin’s first day at Booker T. Washington Elementary school.

“I could have, the last five years, laid in bed and cried every day, but I would have missed out on five years.”

In the last five years, Smith has written two books, spoken at national conventions and traveled. She regularly updates her story at livinglegendary.org.

Sunday was Smith’s second time speaking to the Illinois women’s basketball team. She is the sister of the team’s chaplain.

She spoke to the team four years ago, when Illinois’ current seniors were freshmen.

Smith has been attending Illinois women’s basketball games since she was in sixth grade and was a pen pal of a former Illini throughout middle school.

At the team’s pre-game breakfast, she shared her message:

“When I left my job, I decided to focus on living, instead of dying, because technically I should have been dead, but I decided whatever life I have left, I will focus it on living.

“I came up with a theme called ‘living legendary.’ I talked to the team about no matter what challenge you’re going through, whether it be academics, personal relationships or health issues, everyone has a challenge, but it’s how you respond to that challenge that defines you as a person.”

Illinois’ players took Smith’s message into the game with them.

“She talked about how she quit her dream job just to go live and cherish every moment,” senior Karisma Penn said. “It’s kinda like cherishing every possession in the game.”

Players across the nation wore pink jerseys, shoes and headbands this past week in honor of the Play 4Kay game, which honored former North Carolina State head coach Kay Yow, who died of Stage IV breast cancer.

“We take this seriously,” junior Amber Moore said. “Being able to play in pink and represent everybody who’s fighting it or has beat it is very important.”

Smith was honored at center court during halftime, along with other cancer survivors, patients and caretakers. Country singer Kristy Osmunson sang her song “Fight Like a Girl.”

Smith appreciated one specific line: “When the doctor said ‘the cancer spread.’”

“That was such a powerful message because so often we hear of breast cancer, we hear people go through this icky part of their life with surgery and chemo and then they’re better and life goes on and back to normal or the new normal,” Smith said. “But the song gives a very powerful voice to those of us living with stage IV cancer and trying to live with it as a chronic illness rather than a terminal illness. It helps make people aware that it doesn’t always go away and get better and your life goes back to normal.”

The Play 4Kay game brought in the women’s basketball team’s second-largest crowd of the season with 2,703 in attendance, the majority of whom donned pink in support of the cause. Cancer survivors and patients received free admission.

“I think the Play 4Kay game is really important because it brings out people and makes them aware of breast cancer,” Smith said. “But it also moves beyond that and looks at what are we doing about this.”

Johnathan can be reached at [email protected] and @jhett93.