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Albany Basketball Signs 11-Year-Old Boy With Childhood Alzheimer’s

Mar 20, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Albany Great Danes head coach Will Brown huddles up against the Florida Gators during the second half of a men
Mar 20, 2014; Orlando, FL, USA; Albany Great Danes head coach Will Brown huddles up against the Florida Gators during the second half of a men

Today was national signing day for college basketball, and as schools everywhere secured top-ranked athletes in hopes to win a championship with, Albany secured a top ranked person, winning hearts of everyone. 

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J.P. Honsinger is a 11-year-old sixth grader who is diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease Type C. This specific disease is summarized at nnpdf.org as follows:

"“NPC Patients are not able to metabolize cholesterol and other lipids properly within the cell. Consequently, excessive amounts of cholesterol accumulate within the liver and spleen and excessive amounts of other lipids accumulate in the brain.”"

This disease is not curable and very devastating to hear about. However, Albany did what many schools do, only better. They let Honsinger  sign a national letter of intent Tuesday and put him up on their site saying this:

"“Honsinger joins the Great Danes as a five-star point guard out of Clifton Park, N.Y. The sixth-grader inks his National Letter of Intent after being diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease Type C, an extremely rare and debilitating disease also known as childhood Alzheimer’s. The disease has no known cure.”"

That’s why this is different. You can let someone have the memory of dunking in a game or scoring a touchdown in the spring game like Nebraska did with young Jack Hoffman a few years ago, not to take away from that, but to be put on the Internet by the school is something that will last a lifetime. Coach Brown also had something to say about his young, five-star point guard:

"“At 11 years of age, J.P. is the youngest player we have ever signed. He is a lightning quick point guard with big time range on his jump shot. His is a pesky defender who has a tireless work ethic. As our point guard of the future we are going to rely on his exceptional leadership qualities. Nobody in the country will be signing a player with JP’s toughness. We are very fortunate to be able to sign JP during the early signing period as we feel he is a recruiting coup for us. His character and toughness will allow him to make an immediate impact in our program.”"

That right there is amazing. Thank you Albany, for showing the world and J.P. how good people can be.

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