Of all the people on a college campus who can lose perspective, athletes on the school’s sports teams rank pretty high on the list.

Many of them have their education paid for through scholarships. If they are members of the more popular football and basketball teams, they can attain a certain level of fame, acquiring exalted status among their peers.

In case any East Carolina men’s basketball players were starting to get settled on their high horses, Wednesday’s visit to the children’s hospital at Vidant Medical Center almost assuredly humbled them. For the third time during Pirate coach Jeff Lebo’s tenure, ECU’s players spent time with some young patients who, instead of getting ready for Christmas break, are, in some cases, fighting a daily life-and-death battle.

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