The Big West has announced a cooperative partnership with NMDP in support of Kyle Owens, a former UC Riverside men’s basketball player who needs a blood stem cell transplant. NMDP is a leader in cell therapy, helping find cures and save lives for patients with blood cancers and disorders.
 
Owens, who capped a successful senior season with the Highlanders, averaging 8.8 points and 5.5 rebounds, starting 26 of 31 games, was diagnosed in March with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Lymphoblastic leukemia is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow produces too many white blood cells. 
 
The Big West and NMDP are working cooperatively to find a donor match. At each UC Riverside home and road men’s basketball game, fans between the ages of 18 and 40 will be asked to consider texting ‘DOITFORKO’ to 61474 to receive a complimentary cheek swab test kit to determine their genetic type, be added to the NMDP registry and eventually be matched with a patient.
 
The NMDP also plans to be on hand at the 2025 Hercules Tires Big West Basketball Championships presented by Credit Union 1. Fans attending games at Lee’s Family Forum in Henderson, Nev. March 12-15, 2025, will be able to learn more about the registry and complete a swab kit.
 
Owens told FoxSports.com in November he’s, "just looking for somebody to save my life at this point and help me be able to live a happy, healthy life."
 
For more information go to BigWest.org/DOITFORKO.