June 3, 2009

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Villanova University head football coach Andy Talley continues to be a prominent figure in the National Bone Marrow Donor Program. Now in his 17th 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 11,500 potential donors being successfully tested and entered into the registry.

Talley has started the "Get In The Game and Save a Life" national bone marrow registration campaign. Talley enlisted 26 college football programs from all levels to take part in this campaign and he set a goal for the programs to combine and test 5,000 potential donors. The group shattered the goal and tested 8,022 potential donors.

"I am very proud and excited about reaching our goal. To go 3,000 above our goal is an awesome accomplishment," said Talley. "A special thanks goes out to all of the day-to-day and behind the scenes individuals for all of their support. Most importantly, a special thanks to the football players who went out and got the job done."

The campaign has already paid off. Two Wagner College football players, Patrick Abdul and Dustin Nelson, were found to be perfect donor matches. Abdul and Nelson are expected to donate blood-forming cells in the near future for two children afflicted with leukemia.

The 26 teams that took part in this campaign include Bucknell, Colgate, Cortland State, Delaware, Delaware Valley, Harvard, Holy Cross, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lafayette, Lehigh, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Old Dominion, Penn, Princeton, Richmond, Rhode island, Rowan, temple, Ursinus, Wagner, West Chester, Widener and Villanova.

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.

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.

In the fall of 2006, 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 16 year involvement with the program.

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