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The golf carts carefully drove in circles around the UA mall on Wednesday and encouraged people “to save a life� and register with the National Marrow Donor Program .

To bring more attention to themselves and their cause, they blasted music and sang along to a medley of early 2000s rap and R&B music, including “Let Me Love You� by Mario, which came out before some of them were even born. But to their credit, they knew every word.

Each golf cart had multiple full-page QR codes to register with the National Marrow Donor Program. Other Arizona football players stood outside of the UA library and roamed the mall to lure people to tents, where NMDP employees finalized registry and provided kits for people signing up to swab the inside of both cheeks. Once the sample is packaged, it’ll be submitted in the NMDP database.

The NMDP database is used to match people with leukemia or lymphoma with potential donors. In a video posted on Arizona’s social media pages, National Marrow Donor Program account manager Aubrie Vargas said patients “don’t have another option, but to have a stem cell transplant.�

NMDP and Arizona’s “Beyond Football� program partnered up to host a “Get in the Game Swab Drive� on Wednesday. The Wildcats and NMDP had two sessions: one primarily for UA student-athletes and coaches followed by an afternoon session on the mall. Arizona got 345 people registered with NMDP.

The NMDP’s “Get in the Game Swab Drive� or “Be The Match� drives have been held at nearly 400 college campuses, mostly FCS schools. New Arizona linebacker Riley Wilson joined the NMDP registry while he was at Montana.

Former UA running back and Canyon del Oro High School star Stevie Rocker, who’s entering his final season at Montana, recently underwent a bone marrow transplant procedure in Kansas for a 6-year-old boy in Argentina.

Arizona senior defensive back Ayden Garnes, who quarterbacked the “Get in the Game� drive on Wednesday, also knows firsthand what it’s like to make a lifesaving decision and donate bone marrow.

When Garnes played at Duquesne, an FCS school in Pittsburgh, he participated in a drive and found a match in 2022 — the only Duquesne player to find a match that season. He donated bone marrow to a woman overseas who had a baby daughter.

“I feel like I saved two lives, because waking up and not having your mom, that’s a big thing for a child that young,� Garnes told the Star on Wednesday. “I feel like I saved her life, as well.�

Even though Garnes was eager to save a life, “I was pretty scared because I didn’t know what all went into it,� Garnes said in January.

“The bone marrow transplant everyone knows is a big needle that goes into your hip,� he said. “I thought that’s what they did, so I was pretty scared. They ended up talking to me about it. Once they talked to me about it and said that wasn’t it, I was the most excited you can be, because that’s saving a life ... She’s from outside of this country, and I still haven’t had a chance to meet her because there’s just so much going on.

“I would like to meet her sometime in the next few years. That’s one of the biggest blessings I put on this Earth.�

Accompanied by his mother, Jerelle Holden, and then-Duquesne defensive coordinator Michael Craig, Garnes made the sacrifice and underwent the bone marrow transplant procedure roughly two years ago in Boston.

“By the time I woke up, it was already done and she was already recovering,� Garnes said. “They told me that when I woke up. That’s just a blessing, just hearing something you did for four or five hours is going to save somebody’s life forever.�

Garnes couldn’t reveal her identity, but said the woman recently sent him a letter “that was in a different language (Spanish), so I had to use Google Translate to translate it, but it was one of the sweetest messages I’ve ever received.�

“I have it hung up in my bedroom,� Garnes said. “I wrote her back and said, ‘You’re my angel. You’re going to look over me the rest of my life even though you’re still here.’�

Arizona cornerbacks coach Chip Viney said Garnes’ story “has inspired me.�

“He’s just different that way,� Viney said. “There was something special about him when we started to recruit him. ... How he carried himself when he was here, the conversations we had about ball, the things around ball, this was a young man we wanted in our program, especially our secondary. ... He has that light about himself.�

Garnes, a Philadelphia native who transferred from West Virginia in January, shared his story with his new teammates at Arizona and inspired them to help with the drive.

Notable Wildcats contributing to the cause included Wilson, defensive back Genesis Smith, wide receiver Chris Hunter III, linebacker Chase Kennedy, offensive lineman Chubba Ma’ae, wide receiver Tre Spivey III, running back Quincy Craig, linebacker Max Harris, defensive tackle Deshawn McKnight, defensive back Gavin Hunter, defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea, defensive tackle Leroy Palu and linebackers Taye Brown and Leviticus Su’a, among others.

“They look like some lifesavers!� Smith chirped at a group of UA students.

Garnes told two UA students, “That’s a lifesaver right there! Save a life today! It’ll take only two minutes!�

Some of his attempts didn’t work. Some were “running late� somewhere or said they would return later.

“I think a lot of people are afraid to be a match and then they have to say no,� Garnes said. “I don’t think they should be scared, but a lot of people who are swabbing are trying to push this cause.�

Sometimes submitting a sample to NMDP doesn’t result in a match. It could take months or sometimes years to find a match. The price for joining a list of potential lifesavers takes just a few minutes.

“There’s a lot of things people have out here that they’re just sitting with,� Garnes said. “Taking five minutes out of your day to swab your cheek to potentially save a life is something I think people should be aware of.�