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Real centers wear pink.

Or, specifically, pink shoes. Creighton center Gregory Echenique sports a pair of hot pink boats in every game. You'd think that wearing pink shoes in public might lead to some razzing.

But then you remember that Echenique is all of 6-foot-9, 270 pounds. Go Big Pink!

Saturday night Echenique will be a trend-setter. Most of the CenturyLink Center at the Jays vs. Bradley game will be dressed in pink, as Creighton supports the fight against cancer. The Jays will wear pink on their uniforms, including new pink Nikes. The CU coaches will don pink Kobe Bryant shoes, fresh out of the box. Fans are encouraged to get in the spirit.

Don't be embarrassed. Pink isn't a fashion statement. It's an attitude.

Pink stands for toughness.

"I think Gregory wears them because he likes the cause they represent," Creighton coach Greg McDermott said. "I think he likes them because they feel comfortable. And I think he likes seeing if anyone will say something to him."

It's a pink chip on his shoulder that so far nobody has dared to knock off. Including the reigning Missouri Valley Player of the Year.

"Kyle Weems (Missouri State star) is an expert at that. He told me, 'Big fella really likes those pink shoes,'" CU sophomore Doug McDermott said. "But he said that to me, not to (Echenique).

"I haven't heard anyone say anything to him. You can't, really — he's 6-9, 280."

It doesn't count if you do it from the safety of the student section.

"The fans all want to talk about it," Echenique said. "But they're not very creative. I'm kind of disappointed. They'll say 'Nice pink shoes.' I hear it all the time. I wish they would come up with something better."

The thing is, if you're going to wear pink shoes, you'd better be able to play. And No. 00 has come to play this year, his first full season at Creighton.

Much was expected last year from the Rutgers transfer. He didn't suit up until mid-December. He led the Valley in field goal percentage and blocked shots. But he looked timid at times. He struggled trying to figure out how physically Valley refs would let him play. It was a learning experience.

This year, Mr. Pink is the force fans expected. Especially of late. Echenique, a defensive presence, has 10 or more rebounds in four of his last seven games and is averaging 9.6 rebounds in that span.

And after laying bricks from the free-throw line to start the year, he's gone 42 for 54 in the last 13 games.

Must be the shoes, right? That and confidence, Echenique said. He's adjusting to the Valley refs, and also what his coaches want: stronger but smarter. Echenique is going after the ball this year, not waiting for it to come to him. And then balancing that aggression by refraining from turning the paint into a barroom brawl.

"Part of toughness is being able to do what you've got to do," Greg McDermott said. "Sometimes you pull your hands back and understand you're not going to get it, instead of knocking somebody to the ground. The last two or three weeks, he's shown more strength and patience with the basketball, more than anytime I've coached him."

Echenique is becoming the tough guy the Jays want him to be and need him to be.

But Saturday night is about recognizing another kind of toughness. Another level.

In 2005, Theresa McDermott was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery, chemotherapy. More than six years later, the Creighton coach's wife is cancer free. Her story is well-known in the CU, and Omaha, community.

Cancer doesn't block shots. Cancer doesn't score the winning basket. You can't just go home and never see it again.

Cancer changes lives. It takes lives.

Saturday night is about the fight against cancer, the kind of fight that Theresa McDermott took to the disease.

She continued to live her life. She continued to raise her three kids, be the coach's wife and the basketball mom. And do so with unmatched grace and courage.

Seventeen years ago, I lost my mother to cancer. She carried herself with that same grace, the same fight. It was then that I recognized something about toughness: The ladies are often much tougher than us macho men.

"She's unbelievably tough," Greg McDermott said. "She handled it way better than I could."

Said Doug: "She's as tough as they get. When you're going through chemotherapy, and your hair's falling out, and you want to stay in bed, she's up making dinner, going to my games, going to yoga class, doing all that stuff. She never showed that she was sick.

"Basketball is not that tough of a game. When you think about people going through that with cancer, it's a wake-up call."

And so Saturday night when he puts on the pink numbers and laces up the pink shoes, Doug McDermott will do so with pride.

"I'm not a big pink guy," Doug said. "But I'm cool with it once a year. It's for a good cause."

Tough guys wear pink. Tough girls, too.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

twitter.com/tomshatelOWH

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