Tiana Mangakahia Granted Extension of Eligibility
Syracuse women's basketball received some great news on Friday, as the NCAA granted Tiana Mangakahia an extension of eligibility to allow her to play for the Orange during the 2020-21 season.
Mangakahia was one of the best players in college basketball during the 2018-19 campaign. She had to deal with the toughest opponents of her life during the offseason when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in June 2019. She received a phone call one morning from her doctor to reveal the diagnosis. Alone in her apartment and over 9,500 miles away from her parents in Australia, Mangakahia broke down in tears over the news.
Her family traveled back and forth in order to spend time with Mangakahia, and ensure she always had family by her side. The Syracuse coaching staff, led by head coach Quentin Hillsman provided fatherly support to help her battle breast cancer from a mental standpoint.
Between July and October, Mangakahia underwent eight rounds of chemotherapy to battle the disease. Syracuse Sports and Information Director Olivia Coiro, as well as Hillsman's wife Shandrist, took Mangakahia to her appointments with her parents on FaceTime so they could be involved and ask any questions they may have.
“We called ourselves her American moms,” Coiro told Sports Illustrated last December.
During a five hour surgery in November, doctors removed what remained of the tumor. They did not find cancer cells in what was removed, and she was diagnosed as cancer free.
Since then, Mangakahia has been playing pickup ball, practicing and working out to get back in basketball shape. With the NCAA's ruling, she will be able to wear the Syracuse uniform for one more season before her inevitable life as a professional basketball player. It is one of the better sports stories in a year that has been unlike any other.
