Inside The Huskies

Husky Basketball Team Pays Tribute To Mia Hamant

Wesley Yates III and Danny Sprinkle offered postgame condolences.
Dan Raley|
The late Mia Hamant is shown with here University of Washington soccer teammates.
The late Mia Hamant is shown with here University of Washington soccer teammates. | UW

Following the death of standout University of Washington soccer goalkeeper Mia Hamant to kidney cancer on Thursday, people across campus paused and paid tribute to her, with Husky basketball guard Wesley Yates III and coach Danny Sprinkle among them.

In the aftermath of their game with Denver, Yates and Sprinkle interrupted their media sessions to honor the fallen athlete.

"I feel like anybody who goes to this school and is part of this University of Washington is family in the athletic department and I just wanted to give my condolences to her," Yates said.

Hamant, 21, passed away after waging a seven-month battle with a type of kidney cancer so rare there are only 14 known cases worldwide.

"Seeing the courageous fight she had, it inspires everyone," Sprinkle said. " But it's hard to see such a young kid have to go through that."

A year ago, she was a junior and the starting goalie for the UW women's team, helping it advance to the NCAA Tournament.

She played in 17 matches, started 15 and permitted the third-lowest single-season number of goals in program history at 0.66.

Hamant ranked first in the Big Ten and third nationally with a 0.882 save percentage.

She made five saves with one goal allowed in an upset of fifth-ranked Michigan State.

Hamant had 12 saves, including three penalty shootout saves, in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal victory against No. 17 Iowa, which she later said was her personal Husky highlight.

Just 12 days before her death, Hamant attended the UW-Illinois football match-up -- which was designated as "the Huskies for a Cure" game -- and sounded the game-opening siren while seated in a wheelchair.

In doing this, she courageously provided a wide smile for everyone in Husky Stadium to acknowledge.

Hamant hailed from Corte Madera, California, which is just north of San Francisco. As she underwent chemotherapy, her teammates wore orange ribbons in her honor on the soccer field.

Athletes are among the fittest and most physically gifted students on campus, so the death of someone such as Hamant makes everyone, especially in her age group, consider their own mortality.

On Thursday night, Husky Stadium was brightly lit up in the color orange, which signifies kidney cancer awareness.

The UW recently won the Big Ten regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament once more, which was not lost on her Husky basketball peers.

"I hope you all win it all for her," Yates said.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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