When the University of Minnesota Duluth Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) paired up with the formally known as Be the Match organization over the 2022-23 school year, no one could have imagined the impact it would have.

 

Fast forward four years, and the Bulldog athletic department now holds the highest number of registered donors across the entire Midwest — including all Division I, II, and III programs. The UMD athletic department has now saved at least three lives in the last three years – an extraordinary accomplishment, and has had three current or former student athletes personally donate to save other people's lives – people they have never met.

 

After former Bulldog football standout kicker Curtis Cox made a life-saving bone marrow donation in January of 2024. Redshirt men's basketball player Owen Leach got the second call up for a UMD athlete, and donated 930 million stem cells last January. Like Cox, he made a decision to save the life of another person he had never met.

 

Rewind to 2023 when defensive lineman Brian Konz did a cheek swab after his coaches encouraged players to take part in the drive. This June, Konz got a call just like Cox and Leach did – he was a match. Just as the Bulldog donors that preceded him, Konz didn't hesitate for one moment to save a life.

 

"I knew right away after that first phone call that this was something that had to be done," said Konz. "There was never a doubt in my mind. At that point in time I was busy between apprenticeship progression opportunities at work, personal matters, and a hunting trip coming up, but I instantly put that all aside and made this my top priority. I was willing to drop everything to do this donation."

 

Konz says he's grateful for his coaching staff encouraging players to participate in the program.

 

"I did my cheek swab the off-season of 2023 before going into my senior year of football," said Konz. "It was something that the coaches encouraged the players to partake in, which I'm beyond grateful for as I never would've had this opportunity if it wasn't for them. It was around June of this year when I received a call saying that I was a match for a two-year old girl with leukemia. From there it was multiple blood drawings and physicals to make sure I was fit for donation. I had to wait for roughly a month and a half to confirm my results were acceptable for this little girl. At this point the doctors of the girl came up with a plan on when my donation would be, and it ended up being at the end of August. Once that was confirmed it was another blood draw and physical. When it was time to donate, I was flown out to Washington D.C. where I ended up donating half a liter of bone marrow out of my lower back. After the first call it was all said and done in a matter of three months."

 

Two years after swabbing his cheek, Konz was a true hero.

 

"It was truly an eye opening experience that changed how I think," said Knoz. "The struggle that this little girl and the family has gone through is unimaginable. I wish there was more awareness on this issue and I truly encourage everyone to sign up to be a donor as it can truly save a life."

 

Konz, like Cox and Leach before him, knows exactly what becoming part of the donor base with the simple swab of a cheek can mean for an entire family. And next week, Bulldog athletes and UMD students will have the opportunity to be a part of something far greater than imagined four years ago.

 

UMD's SAAC will again host another Be the Match/National Marrow Donor Program drive next Wednesday, Oct. 8 in the Romano Gym Lobby and inside the Kirby Student Center. Both locations will be open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

 

For more information on the National Marrow Donor Program, click here.

 

To read about Curtis Cox and his donation story, click here.

To read more about Owen Leach's donation story, click here.