By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

The inaugural classic consisted of boys and girls teams from three different states, featured a silent auction and raised more than $18,000. But the figure doesn’t include livestream sales and some silent auction figures. Sherman expects the final number to be around $30,000. 

“The first annual classic went better than anyone could have hoped,” Sherman said. “We had a better turnout than even I was imagining. There were just so many people there to support such a great cause and we’re so grateful for the amount of people that came. It took a lot of work for us to put this together, but it was worth every single second on that day.” 

At the event, Sherman presented a check to Sara Beck, who was Sherman’s first nurse on the oncology floor in March 2023 at Sanford Health. Beck was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2024. 

“She got the unfortunate news last year and got diagnosed with cancer and had a brain tumor,” Sherman said. “So we want to help her out in any way that we can.”

Sherman praised the Viborg-Hurley administration for assisting with the event, along with his family for helping on game day. He also thanked the sponsors for their support and all the people who attended or watched online. 

“I just couldn’t be any more grateful for all the amazing people out there that helped support our cause and helped support my dream that I wanted to start helping families and start a basketball classic,” Sherman said. “I am just beyond grateful for all the great people in this world.” 

Sherman received positive feedback from all the people involved and he has visions of expanding the classic to a bigger venue — such as the Corn Palace — next season. 

“We really want to grow this and make it one of the big classics in South Dakota where kids dream of playing in it,” Sherman said. “With the great cause that it supports I really hope that we can grow this so we can keep raising money for these families.”

As for Sherman, he has his leg amputated in October and is awaiting his prosthetic leg. He will have more scans this month as he continues to battle cancer. 

“Unfortunately, when you have cancer it’s a super long journey,” Sherman said. “You have to fight. We are up for the fight and doing whatever it takes to keep on fighting every day.”