‘Malek Strong’

Spokane native signs with Idaho despite cancer diagnosis

High school senior Jace Malek was surrounded by friends, family and coaches Wednesday as he signed his letter of intent and officially committed to join the Idaho football team.

A week ago, the Spokane native and his family gathered for a different reason — to view the cantaloupe-sized tumor clearly visible in the MRI of his left hip.

“I called the coaches as soon as I could after I found out, and told them I didn’t expect them to keep their offer,” Malek said. “I knew they could give it to someone else and that was OK, but they said that wouldn’t be the case. Whether it was bone cancer or not, they were going to keep the offer to play football on scholarship at the University of Idaho. That took the pressure off. That was huge for me.”

Malek, a 6-foot-3, 240-pound fullback from West Valley High School, said he knew he wanted to play football in college since he was in junior high and he knew he’d have to work hard to get there. So he did.

Malek became a successful high school athlete in both football and wrestling. Last summer, he attended a summer camp at Idaho, and at the end of the week he gave Idaho’s coaches a verbal commitment to become a Vandal. After that, Malek became one of Idaho’s biggest fans. He attended every home game in the 2014 season and kept in contact with Idaho’s coaches.

At the same time Malek was cheering on the Vandals, he was finishing his senior season at West Valley. Toward the end of the season, he started to feel pain in his left hip, but like most athletes, he thought it was just a minor injury.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Malek said. “I just played through the pain.”

But the pain didn’t subside, and actually got worse once wrestling season started. Malek decided to see a chiropractor, who thought he might have a torn muscle and recommended a specialist. Tests and MRI’s followed, revealing the tumor in his hip that had clearly been there for a while.

Malek underwent a full body scan earlier this week and doctors discovered some smaller tumors in his chest they believed to be related to the one in his hip. Malek will begin chemotherapy for bone cancer next week.

Unfortunately, Malek said, it’s unlikely he’ll ever see field time for Idaho. But that’s not deterring him from his dream of coaching college football someday.

“I’m just surrounded with some great coaches, and now that I know the reality is that I won’t be able to play college football, I’m going to learn how to coach,” Malek said. “I’ll be able to learn their schemes inside and out and I’ll be able to help out and that’s just huge for me. This has been my dream for me for a long, long time. If I beat this thing quick enough maybe I can get in for a play or two my senior year, but there’s no use in crying over it. I just take what life gives me.”

Malek said being able to sign with Idaho despite the setback was one of the most exciting moments of his life.

“I had all my coaches come in from school to my house,” Malek said. “They all had those T-shirts that said ‘Malek Strong’ … That was a surprise, those were pretty sweet, and it was just a great experience. I couldn’t be happier to join Idaho.”

Idaho coach Paul Petrino said Malek was already part of the family, and cancer wasn’t about to change that.

“Jace is just a great young man,” Petrino said. “You love him, to be honest. He feels like a part of the family, part of my family. They’re having hard times. That’s when you have to be there for them. We’re going to be there for him all the way, no matter what. Everyone needs to say a bunch of prayers for him. Jace is a tough young man. He’s going to beat this.”

Kaitlyn Krasselt can be reached at [email protected]