CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Looking polished and presidential, ACC commissioner John Swofford stood behind the dais inside the Charlotte Convention Center.

It was an event the commissioner eagerly awaited. Not just because his alma mater, North Carolina, was playing in its first ACC championship game the next night against Clemson.

The conference had brought together its legends of the past and stars of the present for a celebratory dinner on the first Friday of December last year. Tony Dorsett, Qadree Ollison and Jordan Whitehead represented both sides of that spectrum for Pitt.

Then, some bad news leaked southward across state lines. Pitt running back James Conner, who 12 months earlier to the day was honored as the ACC's Player of the Year, had Hodgkin lymphoma. The announcement came that afternoon.

After enduring a season-ending knee injury, he now faced six months of chemotherapy and — at the time — an uncertain future.

The word quickly reached Swofford. With a heavy heart and a memory of his own to match, the commissioner told the audience of Conner's affliction while wishing him well.

All the while, he couldn't stop thinking about Oliver.

The musical Swoffords

Perhaps you're old enough to remember the youngest of the commissioner's three older brothers.

William Oliver Swofford, known professionally as Oliver, was a recording star in the '60s and '70s. His two biggest hits — “Good Morning Starshine” and “Jean” — rose as high as No. 3 and No. 2, respectively, on Billboard's Hot Top 100 in 1969. He performed both on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

Musical ability ran through the Swofford brothers until it ran into John. Oldest brother Carl, 16 years John's senior, plays the trumpet and was a golfer at Davidson. Jim, a tackle at Duke who played in two Orange Bowls, plays the trombone and still sings in church.

“I hum in church,” John said, smiling. “I'm the black sheep in terms of that particular talent.”

They were all athletes, though.

Oliver was an all-conference running back in North Wilkesboro, N.C., one of those small towns (population barely 4,000) that adores its high school football team.

“On Friday night, the place closed up and pretty much everybody was at the football game,” John Swofford said.

Oliver ran track at North Carolina before embarking on his singing career. John was a Tar Heels starting quarterback. “I threw three interceptions against South Carolina. The next week I was a safety,” he said, laughing at the memory.

Tragedy strikes again

After his singing career ended, Oliver was living in Shreveport, La., in the 1990s working in pharmaceuticals when he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Doctors determined John, four years younger than Oliver, was a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant.

“That took about two seconds to decide whether to do that,” said John, whose father, Jack, died of cancer when he was 13.

The youngest Swofford, who had been athletic director at North Carolina from 1980-97, was in his second year as ACC commissioner at the time of the transplant in 1999.

“It was quite an experience,” he said “They take it out of your lower back and hips.”

Later, after he had returned to his hospital room, Swofford could see and talk to his brother and watch the bone marrow flow into his body.

“It was an emotional experience,” said Swofford, the stoic expression he displays while discussing ACC business cracking slightly. “You are just hoping and praying it has the effect that you hope it has.”

Oliver's condition improved for about six months.

“It looked like it was really going to work,” Swofford said. But the cancer eventually spread to Oliver's liver, and he died Feb. 12, 2000, 10 days before his 55th birthday.

“It was emotional doing it and emotional when it didn't work,” Swofford said. “I felt like I had let him down. I know that's not logical, but emotionally that's the way I felt.”

Shortly after Conner's diagnosis, John Swofford wrote him a note, never mentioning his brother.

“Had my brother had a different outcome, I probably would have, as a form of encouragement,” he said. “I didn't want to say anything to discourage him.”

Conner, who had 12 chemotherapy treatments, was declared cancer-free in May and is preparing for the 2016 season.

“It's just a wonderful story,” Swofford said. “I hope he comes back and has a terrific year. Everybody in the league is pulling for him.”

Conner's teammates have said they are using his recovery as inspiration. Conference rivals are amazed.

Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher felt the Conner story as much as anyone. His 11-year-old son, Ethan, suffers from Fanconi anemia, a rare blood disease.

Ethan is doing well, even playing baseball this year.

“Ornery as ever,” Fisher said.

Of Conner, he said: “I hoped and prayed and kept fingers crossed that things turned out for the best. I'm happy it did.

“That puts things in perspective. Football is one thing. Life's another.”

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.

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