North Philadelphia native Brian Wanamaker, who recently accepted the position as head coach of the men’s basketball team at Texas Wesleyan University, is not letting a cancer diagnosis interfere with his life plans, writes Mac Engel for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Wanamaker learned he had a rare cancer of the plasma cell two years ago.

“They don’t know the cause of it, but it will come back and I don’t know when. There is no cure,” said Wanamaker.

Despite this looming over him, Wanamaker maintains a positive outlook.

His road to his current position is worthy of a movie. He grew up in poverty in North Philly. Both he and his twin brother Brad were exceptional basketball players and were invited to attend Roman Catholic High School in a different part of town.

“We went from the worst school to the best school,” said Wanamaker.

Afterward, Wanamaker joined Central Connecticut State in 2007, but several injuries caused him to quit the team. He changed colleges until he settled in at TWU, where he became an All-American and conference player of the year.

After college, he played internationally for six seasons. After returning home, he turned to coaching, which he had wanted to do since he was 14.

Read more about Brian Wanamaker and his tumultuous life and basketball journey in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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