UNC women's basketball players remember Josh Level in charity game

In a charity scrimmage at Ram’s Head Recreation Center Thursday, the UNC women’s basketball team soundly defeated Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

Supporters cheered on as the women’s team beat the fraternity in four out of six games.

Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. hosted the scrimmage, titled “Ball is Life,” to raise money and awareness for the Josh Level Foundation.

The foundation memorializes Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. Vice President Joseph Level’s younger brother. In February 2013, 17-year-old Josh Level died after collapsing during a high school basketball game from myocarditis, a viral disease that causes inflammation in the middle of the heart muscle.

Joseph Level said his brother loved basketball and played competitively beginning at age nine.

“Josh was a fierce competitor with a very big heart,” Joseph Level said. “We were all looking forward to his bright basketball future.”

Josh Level had been recruited by several colleges to play basketball, including Wake Forest University, and had already received scholarship offers.

Admission to Thursday’s game was free, but people were encouraged to buy bracelets for $2 each to support the foundation. The neon green bracelets said, “Live For Today. RIP Josh Level.” The game’s bracelet sales raised $183 for the foundation, said senior biology major Aubree Broadwater, Joseph Level’s girlfriend.

Josh’s family created the foundation to encourage and inspire student athletes to serve their communities, Level said. It also aims to raise awareness about the need for AEDs, portable defibrillators that check heart rhythm and can deliver an electric shock to the heart in case of sudden cardiac arrest.

If the defibrillators were more common in amateur facilities, it could have saved Josh’s life, Joseph Level said.

“The foundation is meant to do something to keep his memory alive, so we’re using basketball as a medium to reach people in the community,” Joseph Level said.

In 2013, the foundation gave a $1,000 scholarship to Devin Gregory, who now plays basketball at Greensboro College. The foundation is still in the grassroots phase, but Joseph Level said he expects it to grow after he files official paperwork to make the group a nonprofit at the end of the year.

The foundation plans to offer the scholarship annually.

Senior Shadae Robertson came out to support the cause in memory of Josh.

“Basketball was really his passion,” she said. “That’s why the event is called ‘Ball is Life.’”

Senior Joey Blake, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. president, said he and the fraternity members had fun raising awareness for the cause. He said the event was organized on short notice and could have been even bigger if they had the time to officially reserve the gym and market it more.

“Even though we won’t be here for it, we hope the Kappas keep the event going,” Blake said.

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