MADISON, N.J. (Nov. 11, 2015) – On June 4, 2013, James Amos, Armand Troy and Kevin Herring II gathered at Ohio State University Hospital. When the family and friends of Anthony Jackson saw them walk in, some of them broke down in tears. Jackson was in a hospital bed, while those close to him, including his cousin, high school principal, and basketball coach, sat in the waiting room.
 
"Before we knew what was happening," Herring said, "people grabbed us and starting crying." Jackson had collapsed in his new apartment. Jackson was a type-1 diabetic who had gotten so used to living with his diabetes that unless you really knew him, you wouldn't even know he had it.
 
But following Jackson's collapse, his diabetes had gone untreated for too long, and his blood sugar levels dipped to catastrophic levels. "That would've been the time he needed to get some fruit or something to get his sugar levels correct," Herring said.
 
Jackson was sent into a diabetic coma, lost oxygen to his brain, and died that night at the age of 22.
 
The four boys – Jackson, Herring, Amos, and Troy – grew up together in Columbus, Ohio and attended the Wellington School, a K-12 private school with a graduating class of 30. The guys did everything together, including play basketball. They called each other brothers.
 
The foursome banded together in high school at a summer basketball camp hosted by one of the head coaches. Jackson wore 30 and played forward, sometimes center. "He was always growing," Herring said. "He grew to be about 6-foot-5, much taller than us."
 
Herring remembered their friendship as relatively typical, but special. They'd often hang in Jackson's basement, playing cards and video games. As the group aged together, some shipped away to college, some stayed in Columbus and worked.
 
The summer of 2013 saw everyone come home for the first time in years. What was supposed to be a reunion quickly turned to a period of mourning as they all learned together of the passing of one of their brothers.
 
In the days following the news of Jackson's death, Columbus flooded with tribute for the man that Herring says, "had no enemies." The funeral passed but the remembrance and period of recovery took longer than just a day. Herring, Amos, and Troy went together to Jackson's aunt's house, and stayed there for weeks alongside Harrison Sewell, Jackson's cousin, with whom they were also close. "That was the best thing we could do," Herring said. "It was like we were in high school again."
 
That year, and in the years following, Herring, Amos, and Troy have since turned their energy to diabetes awareness and the way that this core group of friends has tried to work for their fallen brother varies. Amos has been working at home in Columbus to get Jackson's jersey retired. Herring, meanwhile, has chosen to wear the number 30 during his last year of college basketball at Drew University after wearing No. 5 during his debut season. Drew head coach Darryl Keckler ordered new uniforms for the Rangers this season, and made sure No. 30 was available for Herring to wear. He is doing so in what he calls both a "personal tribute and effort to raise awareness."
 
"Basketball brought Anthony and I together," Herring said. "He's the reason I'm sitting here now, and why I'm wearing 30 this year."
 
Despite the differences in the ways the guys commemorate the life of Jackson, and those who struggle with diabetes, they all reconvene, the way they did when the news first broke of Jackson's passing. They do so in the form of a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk, which takes place in several states nationwide. Their families still walk in the Columbus chapter. They reached out to a local t-shirt company, who took Jackson's story and ran with it, producing mass amounts of shirts for everyone walking for Jackson to wear on the walk.
 
Herring, who is away at school and has to experience the JDRF walk via pictures and video, is still amazed by the turnout. "I'll get pictures of the walk and see my history teacher and coaches," he said. "That speaks to whom Anthony was, he was a people's person. His impact has had a ripple effect on everyone involved. When I think about raising awareness, that's exactly what Anthony's done."
 
Herring enters his final year as a Drew Ranger with more on his mind than another successful season. He wears 30 with micro and macro application – for personal tribute to his friend and the hope that diabetes will gain traction in awareness and research can be made to make the disease easier to deal with throughout one's life.
 
"It's the worst thing ever for child when you have to live with it. It's not a cold, it's not the flu, it's something very dangerous. It's a one-of-a-kind disease and it is responsible for taking the life of somebody very close to me," Herring said.
 
Herring enters his senior year at Drew following a junior year that saw him drop 14.1 points a game. In the Landmark Conference semifinals, he surpassed the 1,000 point mark for his career after scoring 366 as a junior at Drew and 637 for Case Western Reserve University. As a senior, he'll don the number 30 in memory of his lost friend, and recognition of those still suffering with diabetes today.
 
As he continues to light up the scoreboard, he'll also be looking to increase the numbers for the JDRF on behalf of Jackson. His page can be found here.