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College basketball stars Bria Hartley, Katie Rutan featured in ESPN’s latest “I Play4 Kay” vignettes

Former NC State women’s basketball coach Kay Yow believed strongly that coaches share not only a community, but should also share in a cause much larger than the game. There are so many people who have been touched by cancer in some way, and this year’s annual Play 4Kay women’s basketball initiative across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU today and tomorrow, several players and coaches will be part of heartfelt “I Play4” moments.

Maryland redshirt senior guard Katie Rutan and Connecticut senior guard Bria Hartley are two players featured in “I Play4” segments in support of the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, in partnership with The V Foundation and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA). In its eighth year, Play 4Kay is in memory of Yow, who lost her long, courageous battle with breast cancer five years ago this past January.

ESPN senior coordinating producer Barry Sacks said of the Play4 concept: “Everyone has a story and has been affected in some way, and the student-athletes are playing for someone. We felt giving them the opportunity to express and give a shout out to their loved ones played into what Play 4Kay is all about.”

For Rutan, Play 4Kay means “carrying on the legacy Kay Yow started, which is bringing awareness to breast cancer. Many of us know survivors or those taken by this disease, so what better way to spread awareness and keep the fight going than by playing for Kay and all of those other women affected?”

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