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UAlbany signs 11-year-old with rare disease to men’s basketball team

Posted at 5:53 PM, Nov 12, 2014
and last updated 2014-11-12 17:53:54-05

JP Hosinger signs with UAlbany. PHOTO: Uses with permission by WRGB CBS 6 Albany

ALBANY, New York — The University at Albany, SUNY basketball team shined today on national signing day, the day when high school scholarship athletes commit to a college.

The team signed 11-year-old point guard JP Honsinger, from Clifton Park. Honsinger suffers from Niemann-Pick Type C disease, which affects memory, balance, and causes delayed motor development. It is called “childhood Alzheimer’s”  and there is no cure for it.

The sixth-grader joins the Great Danes along with two other new players, according to the CBS 6 Albany affiliate, but he is the youngest player the team has ever signed.

The team’s Head Coach, Will Brown, shared his scouting report for Hosinger.

“He is a lightning quick point guard with big time range on his jump shot. He is a pesky defender who has a tireless work ethic. As our point guard of the future we are going to rely on his exceptional leadership qualities. Nobody in the country will be signing a player with JP’s toughness.”

It won’t be his first brush with responsibility. JP was recently named the honorary captain in the Troy Police Department.

You can find out more about Honsinger and find out how to support his fight against the disease here: http://www.jamminforjp.com.