Remembering Georgia Tech basketballer Michael Isenhour

Metro Atlanta

Remembering Georgia Tech basketballer Michael Isenhour

The 23-year-old center died in June 2002 after a nine-month battle with leukemia. Each year, Tech holds a toy drive to honor him while helping the community.

Michael Isenhour, 23, was a Georgia Tech basketball player and Student-Athlete Advisory Board member who died June 13, 2002, following a nine-month battle with leukemia. He was born in Springville, N.Y., and played basketball while on a full scholarship to Tech. He graduated in December 2001 with a mechanical engineering degree.

Jan. 2, 2001 -- Isenhour (44) and North Carolina's Julius Peppers (in blue) fight for control of a loose ball during the first half of a game at Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. BEN GRAY / AJC FILE

Jan. 2, 2001 -- Isenhour (44) puts up a shot in front of North Carolina's Will Johnson (in blue) during the second half of a game at Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. BEN GRAY / AJC FILE

Jan. 9, 2001 -- Virginia's Chris Williams, left, takes a shot over Tech's Michael Isenhour, center, in Charlottesville, Va. BEN SCHWARTZ / THE DAILY PROGRESS

Jan. 24, 2001 -- Isenhour (44) blocks the shot of Clemson's Dustin Braddick (24) during the first half of a game at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C. MARY ANN CHASTAIN / AP

Feb. 11, 2001 -- Georgia Tech's Tony Akins, left, gives Virginia's Donald Hand, center, a hand on the ball as Tech's Michael Isenhour, right, leans into him. MARLENE KARAS / AJC FILE

Feb. 21, 2001 -- Duke's Shane Battier (31) drives between Tech defenders Alvin Jones, left, and Michael Isenhour, right, in the first half of a game at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. GRANT HALVERSON / AP

Dec. 9, 2001 -- Isenhour cheers on his team from the bench during the second half against Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum, in Athens. At left is Georgia Tech's Barry Elder. TRAVIS LONG / ATHENS BANNER-HERALD

Dec. 11, 2001 -- Original caption: "Isenhour holds up a Tech basketball poster (in which he is pictured, top center) showing the way he used to look. He was diagnosed with leukemia just before the 2001-02 season opened, has been undergoing treatment and still plans to graduate and hopefully get into grad school." JOEY IVANSCO / AJC FILE

Dec. 11, 2001 -- Isenhour, a Shiloh High graduate, went to the Air Force Academy for a year prior to transferring to Tech to be closer to his mother, Cheri, who died from cancer in May 2001. He lost his own battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia just over a year later. "I had high hopes (for my senior year)," Isenhour told the AJC in December 2001. "I thought it was going to be a lot of fun. Nobody will really ever get to see it, but I can play a little bit." JOEY IVANSCO / AJC FILE

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Michael Isenhour, 23, was a Georgia Tech basketball player and Student-Athlete Advisory Board member who died June 13, 2002, following a nine-month battle with leukemia. He was born in Springville, N.Y., and played basketball while on a full scholarship to Tech. He graduated in December 2001 with a mechanical engineering degree.

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