April 18, 2007

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova University head football coach Andy Talley and his Wildcat football players will host a bone marrow testing drive on Sunday, April 22, 2007, from 1-4 p.m. The event will be held at the Jake Nevin Field House. The testing, which consists of a cheek swab, is eligible to anyone between the ages of 18-60.

Talley's involvement in the national bone marrow campaign began in 1992 when he raised over $10,000 to determine the blood type of 200 individuals, with Villanova football student-athletes and his coaching staff serving as the foundation.

Now in his 15th year of association with the bone marrow donor program, Talley continues to hold testing drives to get people tested and typed into the national registry. Since 1992, Talley's efforts have resulted in over 3,500 potential donors being successfully tested and entered into the registry.

There are 20 million people worldwide who are registered as potential marrow donors. Still, there are only about 250 matches found each year, making it a 1-in-80,000 chance that a registered donor will be a match.

This past fall, Villanova sophomore kicker Joe Marcoux was determined to be a perfect bone marrow match. In December, 2006, Marcoux donated blood-forming cells to a patient in need. Marcoux was the second Wildcat player to be a donor match in Talley's 15 year involvement with the program.

For more information on the bone marrow testing program, contact the Villanova football office at 610-519-4105.