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Yadielis Gonzalez, 17, got to hang out with players from the Rutgers women's basketball team before their Jan. 5 game and stand with them during the National Anthem. She was later honored at center court during halftime joined by the Scarlet Knight mascot and her sister, Jossie.
The "Shining Knight of the Game" is a collaboration between Rutgers Athletics and RWJBarnabas Health spotlighting patients battling healthcare challenges.
Yadielis has returned to her high school basketball court following brain cancer surgery and radiation treatments.
On March 7, 2023, Yadielis was diagnosed with ependymoma, a cancerous tumor in her brain that wrapped around her spinal cord. The diagnosis required an emergency surgery at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility.
Yadielis then received radiation treatment for the next two months at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
Rutgers lost the game against Iowa at Jersey Mike's Arena before a sold-out crowd that included Yadielis' family.
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