NFL tight end Noah Fant might list as a product of Omaha South High School.
But in his senior year, Fant also graduated from the UNMC High School Alliance. In a new interview with television station King 5 Seattle — where Fant is in his first season with the Seattle Seahawks — Fant talks up the UNMC program.
“I’ve always been big into the medical field,” Fant said. “That was just kind of a great program to jumpstart that interest and take some college level classes at the university.”
Noah Fant on the UNMC High School Alliance (starting at the 1:05 mark):
Fant, who participated in the program during 2015-16, explains how he spent half days during his senior year at South, then headed for UNMC at lunch to “kind of take college classes the rest of the day.”
“Everything you can imagine — they did a great job,” he said. “We did cadaver labs. I sat in on a couple surgeries. It’s a little bit of a shock at first, right? I mean, you’re like in a lab looking at human muscle and stuff like that.
“But once you get into it, if you’re really truly interested in it, it’s really cool to see.”
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| Noah Fant came back to Omaha to speak to the UNMC High School Alliance in 2016. He’s seen here with Heidi Kaschke, director of the program. |
Fant, who went on from high school to be a star at the University of Iowa, continues to be a star of the UNMC High School Alliance.
In a 2016 interview for UNMC Today, he had high praise for the program and even said it inspired him toward a future career as an orthopedic surgeon. “It was a great experience for me,” he said. “It gets you ready for college. There aren’t very many programs like this in the nation.”
When Fant made the NFL in 2019, Heidi Kaschke, director of the High School Alliance, said medical school remains an option for him after his pro football career. “It’s been done before,” she said, “and I certainly believe Noah could do it.”
“I continue to be impressed by Noah, and I am excited to see what his future holds,” Kaschke said this week. “He remains humble, kind and focused on his goals — just how I remember him when he was in the UNMC High School Alliance program.”
I got to do a story with Noah when he was in the HSA in 2015-16. He is just a quality human being – the kind of son that every parent would be proud to call their own. And – best of all – he was an outstanding Hawkeye!
I'm so proud of you, Noah! Go Hawkeyes! Go Seahawks!
Love this story! Fellow graduate from OPS! The spirit of pathway programs like this is to provide exposure to students who wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity. Keep up the good work!
As a Seattle transplant at UNMC, my worlds just collided. Even if we lost, I loved watching Noah play last night and had no idea he attended the academy. Well done, Noah!!