Auburn team manager believes message from Bruce Pearl helped him beat cancer

On Friday, CBS’ Sam Hartman released a heartwarming story on Auburn Basketball manager Sam Cunningham. The Auburn freshman was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was 12 years old. He was a massive Auburn fan.

Bruce Pearl was early in his tenure as Auburn’s head coach, but was focused on more than basketball. Pearl sent Cunningham a video message, hoping to encourage the brave young man during such a trying time.

“You’re gonna beat this son,” Pearl said in the video. “Cancer picked the wrong hombre. Picked the wrong dude to mess with, OK?”

When Sam Cunningham was diagnosed with Leukemia at 12, Auburn Men's Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl sent him words of encouragement and made him a promise: Beat cancer, come to Auburn and you can be team manager. And the freshman has done just that. @SteveHartmanCBS is On the Road. pic.twitter.com/etZavBFFto

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 2, 2024

Evidently, Cunningham agreed. Despite a rollercoaster of events, Cunningham emerged victorious on the other side, free of cancer. He told Hartman that Pearl’s message played a massive role in his recovery.

“[The message] was just real funny to me,” Cunningham said. “‘Cancer picked the wrong hombre. It picked the wrong dude to mess with.’ That quote is what I kept with me when I got in my darkest days in the hospital.

“He truly healed me. I didn’t think I’d really get to this point from all the complications I had. So that was pretty amazing. I’m just a miracle to be here right now.”

Pearl eventually met Cunningham and reinforced his words of encouragement. Further, Pearl made an enticing promise to Cunningham, claiming if the young man recovered from his illness and came to Auburn, Pearl would make him the team’s manager.

Both sides kept their ends of the bargain. Now, Pearl hopes to see Cunningham continue to prosper.

“In my prayers, it’s, ‘God don’t let this thing relapse. Take me. Let Sam live,'” Pearl said.

That selfless attitude is what has endeared Pearl to his players and fans alike. This season has been no exception. Sitting at 21-7, Auburn is the No. 11 team in the country. Pearl is happy Sam Cunningham is by his side for the ride.

“Sam doesn’t want a lot of publicity,” Pearl said. “He just wants to be like anybody else. And that’s what he’s fought to live – to just be a student at Vestavia Hills High School, to outlive his cancer, to have the dream of coming to be a student at Auburn. And yes, with the idea of maybe being one of my managers. Because he loves the game of basketball.

“There were times in his battle with cancer where you might have thought that you’re just filling that kid’s head with false hope, but he’s a man of faith, he’s a man of God, and he believed that he would be here.”