WATERLOO - Derrick Galle has seen University of Iowa men's basketball up close.

He had courtside seats at Hawkeye-Carver Arena two years ago during a game against Illinois. When the Hawkeyes ran back onto the court following half-time, Derrick was positioned to high-five each team member.

The 14-year-old, who has been fighting cancer for several years, still likes to tell the story.

After Wednesday, though, the Bunger Middle School eighth-grader has an even better tale to tell. A member of that Hawkeye team walked into Derrick's Waterloo home and presented him with an Iowa jersey.

"Awesome," said Derrick, as Waterloo native Mike Henderson handed him a black jersey. It said "Iowa" across the front in yellow and had a "35" on the back - Henderson's number when he was with the Hawkeyes.

Dana Jefferson, a Bunger teacher's aide, brought the pair together.

"I used to work with Derrick in sixth grade and seventh grade," said Jefferson. She was reading his Care Pages Web site and noticed he is a fan of Hawkeye basketball.

Jefferson immediately thought of her cousin, Amanda Gary, a friend and classmate of Henderson.

"I just called my cousin and she set it up," said Jefferson.

Henderson was a standout East High School basketball player who graduated in 2003. He played for Iowa throughout his college career. Last fall, he headed to Eastern Europe to play for the Bulgarian team CSKA.

Henderson signed Derrick's shirt and a trading card featuring him. The teen-ager has cards of each player on the team two years ago.

"Cool, thank you. That's awesome," said Derrick, before pulling the jersey over his T-shirt.

Derrick was first diagnosed three years ago with a malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor in his left leg behind the knee. Following unsuccessful chemotherapy, his left leg was amputated above the knee in October 2005. He gets around with a walker or wheelchair.

Doctors discovered last fall that the cancer had returned to Derrick's body and was in both of his lungs. He was pulled out of school to allow for regular trips to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for five-day-long chemotherapy treatments.

"It takes a toll on his little body," said Derrick's mother, Heather.

She said doctors have seen neither improvement nor worsening of the tumors after seven rounds of chemotherapy. After the ninth round, they will examine the effect again.

"They're planning to continue the chemotherapy as long as his body can tolerate it," said Heather. He will return to Iowa City for an eighth round in about a week.

"He has no plans on giving up any fight at any point," she said.

When he was diagnosed with the cancer, Derrick had already faced many health problems. He has been through 25 surgeries during his lifetime. He also suffers from a genetic disorder of the nervous system called neurofibromatosis, severe scoliosis and a collapsed lung.

On Wednesday, Henderson posed for pictures with the Galle family, which also includes Derrick's father, Danny, and sister, Megan. Everyone in the family is a fan of Hawkeye basketball.

Henderson sat next to Derrick on the living room couch and talked with the family about Hawkeye basketball and his season in Bulgaria. He also talked with Derrick about playing video games, like "Halo 3."

"I ought to come over and play your Halo sometime," Henderson told him. "You'd probably kill me."

What did he think of Derrick?

"He's a really cool kid," said Henderson.

Derrick calmly chatted with Henderson throughout the low-key visit. But the teen-ager let on that he loved every moment of getting up close to the former Hawkeye.

"It's really exciting, really cool," he said.

Contact Andrew Wind at (319) 291-1507 or andrew.wind@wcfcourier.com.