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In recent years, there’s been a spike in sports fans who’ve been more than happy to put their loyalties aside and throw their support behind a good cause linked to a player on another team. Now, Tennessee basketball fans have gotten in on the action with an outpouring of sympathy for Montana’s Money Williams.
On Wednesday night, the #11 Tennessee Volunteers hosted the Montana Grizzlies at Food City Center for an early-season showdown where the home team was expected to coast to a win as 26.5-point favorites.
The Vols surpassed those expectations with the 92-57 victory in a game where Igor Milicic Jr. led the charge for Tennessee with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. However, the true star of the show was Montana’s Money Williams, who scored more than half of his team’s points by posting a game-high and career-high 30 during an absolutely stellar performance.
If Tennessee fans weren’t familiar with Williams prior to the game, that definitely changed thanks to what transpired during it.
After things wrapped up, Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel called attention to the heartbreaking adversity he’s managed to overcome by sharing the link to the GoFundMe he’s been using to raise money as he and his sister care for their younger siblings after both of their parents passed away last year.
Montana star Money Williams lost both his parents in the past year. He and his sister, Mo’Ney, are raising their three younger siblings.
Williams stepped away from the Grizzlies in October before returning. He scored 30 points at UT in an electric game. https://t.co/eNEAvmXUQJ
— Mike Wilson (@ByMikeWilson) November 14, 2024
Williams almost stepped away from basketball when his father passed away last November but ultimately decided to keep pursuing his dream before enrolling at Montana.
He suffered another tragic loss when his mother died in October just a few weeks before the beginning of his freshman season and started the GoFundMe to get help with funeral expenses and the care of the three siblings he and his sister Mo’Ney are now raising.
That led to hundreds of fans flocking to the page to contribute to the cause (including a number of members of “Vol Nation” who left messages showing their support) to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, as a fundraiser that was hovering around the $70,000 mark after the game surpassed the $100,000 threshold on Friday morning.
Some things are bigger than sports, and you love to see this kind of outpouring of support for a man—and a family—who need it.