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7-year-old Darrion Booze joins UB basketball through Team Impact

Posted at 10:23 PM, Nov 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-17 22:23:38-05

If you've ever been a sports fan, you probably remember the time you fell in love with your team, the first time you got to see them play live, that feeling of togetherness being a fan brings.

7-year-old Darrion Booze is getting to take his love of basketball to the next level, as tonight Darrion was introduced as a member of the UB Bulls, through a program known as Team Impact.

"He's been a big inspiration to us," UB head basketball coach Nate Oats said. "When we first found out we were going to have Darrion with us, we were excited. We met him in the locker room, he was dancing all over."

"I think it's good we have a great kid like Darrion today," senior Willie Conner said. 

Darrion has had it much harder than most 7-year-olds. He was diagnosed in April with End Stage Renal Disease. His kidneys were functioning at an extremely low level. The kidneys filter waste and excess fluid from the blood, as kidneys fail, waste builds up. 

Since his diagnosis, he has been in and out of the hospital a lot, deals with acid reflux, bad headaches and fevers, and has to maintain a very strict diet. He is on dialysis every other day, and he will be going on the kidney transplant list soon.

But if you met Darrion, you would see an energetic kid, who can be somewhat shy when under the bright lights. You know, just like any other 7-year-old kid.

"Can you teach us a few dance moves before it's all said and done?" Oats asked. Darrion smiled at the thought.

Darrion probably knows quite a few great dance moves. He loves listening to Drake and his favorite athlete is Steph Curry! He enjoys playing basketball, he is a big fan of pizza and his favorite thing to watch is The Regular Show!

The UB Basketball team is hoping Darrion will bring them lots of luck this year. They can’t wait to draft Darrion as the newest Bull!.

You can watch Darrion's first ever presser in full above. (With some thoughts from head coach Nate Oats on their win against Nazareth)