Sports
Ndamukong Suh a Basketball Coach? That's the Plan at OU on Thursday
Detroit Lions star will host a celebrity wheelchair basketball game at Oakland University.
Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will take a turn at coaching this week. But he won't be under a dome on a Detroit football field. Instead, he'll be on a basketball court in Rochester.
Suh will help coach a team of celebrities as they play the Detroit Diehards, a wheelchair basketball team organized by the Detroit Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan. The game will be played Thursday night at 's O'Rena.
"Basketball was a sport that I wish I could have played going to college and going pro, but I wasn't tall enough," said Suh, who spoke to media Tuesday at a kickoff for the event at the DMC.
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The DMC asked Suh to be host and coach for the rehabilitation institute's 10th Annual Celebrity Wheelchair Basketball Game.
"As you know, Ndamukong is a great supporter of Detroit. We were so excited that he accepted our invitation and will be part of our event this year," said Cheryl Angelelli, the institute's director of marketing and public relations.
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Suh and former Detroit Piston John Long will coach the underdog celebrity team in the game, set to tip off at 7 p.m. Thursday.
"I don't think I'll be playing; I've got a big game on Sunday," Suh said. "But I'll definitely be out there warming up and shooting around."
The celebrity team includes Deena Centofanti (Fox 2 Detroit), Jimmy King (former University of Michigan "Fab Five" basketball player), Terry Foster (97.1 The Ticket and The Detroit News), former NFL player Mike Lodish and Ken Rogulski (WJR).
“I have not been to the O’Rena, it will be my first time," Suh said. "I’ve heard about their basketball program; I know they have a good one, so it will be exciting to check out that university and be around them."
Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for students, but the first 500 spectators will be admitted free.
A 6 p.m. game will pin DMC doctors, nurses and therapists against Oakland University's Athletic Department on the court.
All of the proceeds will support the wheelchair sports program at the DMC rehabilitation institute.
"This game ... it empowers individuals with disabilities and it improves their lives tremendously. This is so much more than a basketball game," Detroit Diehards coach Maurice Phillips said.
