On the court, it was simply 3-on-3 basketball, but this event was one of many in the 2012 Transplant Games of America that impacted thousands of transplant recipients from across the nation who made the trip to Grand Rapids to participate from July 28-31.

“The overall idea and thought of the tournament is obviously bringing awareness to the importance of organ donors and to make sure that people understand and know how important this is to people’s lives,” said Bob Wilkerson, basketball tournament director for the Transplant Games of America and a liver transplant recipient himself. “I’ve had an absolutely wonderful time being a part of this.”

The tournament featured a co-ed open division, co-ed recreation division, male recreation and open divisions, and a youth division.

And it was the gold medal contest in the co-ed open division that brought a gridiron rivalry to the hardwood at Grand Valley State University’s Fieldhouse on Monday as Team Michigan squared off against Team Ohio. For Team Michigan, a little bit of redemption was in the back of their mind as tip-off approached.

“In 1998, which was my second U.S. Transplant Games, it was at Ohio State University,” said T.J. Maciak, who received a kidney transplant in 1996 and was the leading voice in bringing the games to Grand Rapids. “We were in the men’s league at that time and we ended up playing Team Ohio at Ohio State University. The place was just crazy. We played hard but ended up losing.”

Maciak, 36, is the Senior Programmer at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at GVSU.

Now in 2012, looking to win a gold medal in basketball for the second-straight time, Team Michigan hoped to make fans as happy as on a Saturday afternoon following a Wolverines victory against the neighbor to the south, the Buckeyes.

After two 15-minute halves, some intense coaching, the smell of popcorn dancing through the air and even a loud and crazy fan section complete with signs and banners cheering on both squads, it was a pure Michigan 42-24 win.

Kevin Montague from Belding, Mich., led the scoring barrage with 28 points. Meanwhile, Maciak chipped in eight, earning his second gold medal of the games, the other coming in doubles bowling.

“We won the gold on the main basketball floor at Grand Valley and I couldn’t be more excited or more happy,” Maciak said. “Also, it spread the message about how important organ donation is and hopefully the people in West Michigan and also Grand Valley students will sign up to become an organ donor.”

As host of the games, GVSU put many facilities to use to orchestrate a successful Transplant Games of American turnout. From the players, coaches and spectators, there was nothing but positive things to say about the event that was canceled following the split with the National Kidney Foundation in 2011 and then put together by Maciak and the West Michigan Sports Comission in just 11 months.

“They truly appreciate the beauty of the Grand Valley campus and the facilities overally have been impeccable,” Wilkerson said. “They really feel this is an Olympic-style event. The venue and the facilities have brought it to a really high level. Thanks go to Grand Valley for assuming the responsibility for playing host venue.”

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