PM West mourns ex-player’s death
PSU-Hazleton athlete Shay Nelson dies of cancer at 20
The Penn State Hazleton and Pocono Mountain West basketball communities are still in shock, trying to come to grips with the fact that their beloved friend and teammate, a young man who had so much love for life, is now gone.
Shay Nelson, who captivated his teammates with his basketball talents and passion, and passed on his infectious smile to everyone he encountered, lost his private eight-month battle with cancer in late July. He was just 20 years old.
His passing has and will continue to leave a void at PM West, where he helped the Panthers to a District 11 Class 6A championship, and at Penn State Hazleton, where he touched an entire campus in the short time he was there.
“The biggest smile in the room,” Pocono Mountain West basketball coach Rich Williams, an assistant coach on the Panthers’ 2016-17 title team, remembered. “He was a wonderful human being, a really kind soul who was nice to everybody.”
“We fed off what he brought to the gym every day,” added Penn State Hazleton point guard Robbie Hopkins. “He always came with positive energy and that rubbed off on us.”
“He could fly through the air, and he could dunk like no other,” marveled former Penn State Hazleton player Nick Nowak.
“He just outworked everybody,” noted PSU Hazleton basketball coach Jeff Rush, who recruited Nelson for the 2017-18 season. “He was there always giving 100 percent, day in and day out, with a smile on his face.
“He was just a tremendous personality and a tremendous human being.” under the radar at Pocono West, but he was certainly on Rush’s radar screen in Hazleton.
“I didn’t see him play until probably his senior year, but just his athleticism is what stood out,” remembered Rush. “He was an extremely quick leaper, he played so much bigger than his 6-foot-2 size. He loved to rebound and battle underneath.
“We have a little pipeline going with [Pocono West], and we still do. They’re tough kids, they know how to play, they’re battle-tested, and that’s what Shay was.”
Nelson arrived at PSU Hazleton and hit the ground running, garnering a starting spot on the Lions’ 2017-18 team as a freshman.
“He came in as a freshman and he really stood out, the way he can play above the rim, rebound, attack,” Rush said. “We played him at the 3 even though he was undersized. He did everything you asked him to do. He worked his butt off day in and day out. He came to practice and he just outworked everybody. He earned a starting spot.”
And he failed to disappoint. In his freshman season, Nelson averaged 28 minutes per game, was among the team leaders in scoring (10.8 points per game), rebounding (6.8) and assists (1.4), and was a defensive standout.
“Shay had an awesome freshman year,” stated Nowak, who started alongside Nelson that season. “Shay was a glass cleaner. He was an awesome basketball player. Nobody could jump with Shay. When people would see him skying in warmups, they were scared of him.”
The transition to college academics proved a tougher challenge for Nelson.
“Really, I was most proud of him for how he battled in the classroom,” Rush said. “It was a little tough for him at first, but he really buckled down when things got tough in his freshman year.” neuroendocrine cancer, which produces tumors throughout the body, particularly in the stomach, intestines and colon. This type of cancer is prevalent among young adults. As in Shay’s case, symptoms might not appear until a tumor reaches an organ.
“He had this illness inside, but he was still this strong young man, going about his business,” Lombard said. “I was shocked when I found out what it was. We thought maybe it was Crohn’s disease or something simpler. We never thought he would have what he had.”
Rush said Shay went to Texas where some of his family lived, right before the first semester break. His family kept the seriousness of his illness private as he battled the disease.
“He was playing really well, then he got sick and the coaches said he wasn’t able to play anymore this season,” Nowak said. “We would call him on weekend trips, but he’d never pick up. I think he was just too upset that he wasn’t with us.
“I knew what Shay was going through and my coaching staff knew, but the team never really knew or understood just how sick Shay was,” Rush said. “The family didn’t really want us to share that with the guys. Shay never told them. He kind of just wanted to fight it on his own, do his best, and he didn’t want anybody worrying about him. That’s the kind of kid Shay was.”
Adjusting in midseason without their inspirational leader and one of their best players wasn’t easy for the Lions.
As the Lions battled on without him, Shay continued his battle. And by the spring, he appeared to be winning that battle. In May, test results revealed no active cancerous tumors, so hope remained high. Unlike some cancers, Stage 4 neuroendocrine cancer can be beaten if found early enough, and there was hope for his recovery.
Less than three months later, in late July, the shocking news came. Shay had lost his battle with cancer.