Nebraska forward makes touching gesture for assistant coach's son

When Nebraska forward Shavon Shields shaved his head Sunday night, it wasn't just because he was ready for a new look.

He made the change to show support for the cancer-stricken son of one of his coaches.

Avery Harriman, the seven-year-old son of Nebraska assistant Chris Harriman, is battling leukemia for the third time in his short life. Chemotherapy has robbed Avery of his hair, but Shields is making sure he doesn't have to endure it alone.

The gesture by Shields impressed both his current head coach Tim Miles and former Nebraska head coach Doc Sadler.

Said Miles: "This is so cool!!!"

Said Sadler: "Always knew Shavon was a special person. You the man Avery!!"

Avery was initially diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at age 2 and relapsed in Oct. 2012. Since doctors were unsure chemotherapy would be enough to eliminate all the cancer cells in his body, Avery underwent a bone marrow transplant in Feb. 2013, a high-risk, high-reward procedure that provided him a new immune system to fight the residual leukemia.

The procedure proved effective for more than a year, but in July a biopsy revealed that Avery's cancer had returned and was no longer in remission. Having already underwent chemotherapy in hopes of getting the cancer back into remission, Avery is now preparing for a second bone marrow transplant.

Last month, video of a fist-pumping Avery learning he'd get to come home from the hospital for a few days was picked up by numerous TV news shows and went viral on social media. Cancer may have taken Avery's hair but it hasn't taken his enthusiasm.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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