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3 years into NIL, IU among best in basketball resources, punches above weight in football

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7 months ago

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3 years into NIL, IU among best in basketball resources, punches above weight in football

Basketball-specific NIL efforts are believed to rival virtually any program in the country, and football-specific resources are comfortably more than double what they were a year ago.

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  • IU may have a total resource pool that lands basketball in or close to the top five nationally.
  • AD Scott Dolson’s fundraising background and embracing collectives have helped push IU’s NIL might.
  • Indiana used its NIL muscle to transform IU from a program approaching crisis to one that could well compete for a Big Ten title next year.

BLOOMINGTON – As the transfer portal rumor mill powered up through the spring, Indiana found itself pulled under the wheel.

The Hoosiers — remaking their roster primarily through aggressive transfer recruiting — quickly involved themselves in some of the highest-profile portal pursuits. At one point it was even suggested IU put a seven-figure offer in front of one of its top targets.

That particularly rumor was eventually squashed by more reliable reporting. But its believability came from more than just the fishing-stories nature of NIL scuttlebutt, where just enough of these eye-popping numbers are real for none of them to ever be fully debunked as fake.

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Thanks to organized efforts across multiple collectives and in conjunction with an athletics department headed by a director with an extensive background in fundraising, Indiana has built an NIL apparatus competitive in men’s basketball with virtually any program in the country, and as part of a wider NIL structure that’s believed to punch well above its weight in the moneyed Big Ten.

Firm numbers are often difficult to come by in the NIL space, for a variety of reasons.

Departments and their partner collectives are careful not to let hard numbers create friction between programs. Resources in dollar amounts can be a movable feast, with some yet to be committed and more tied up in existing relationships between athletes and NIL partners. And many schools — including Indiana — will have NIL opportunities beyond just their partner collectives (IU has a history of deals with Adidas, for example, and a separate, well-established collective run independently by Eric Pankowski and Ward Roberts, hosts of the Hoosier Hysterics podcast).

But according to industry insiders surveyed for this story, Indiana may well have a total resource pool via their partner collectives, Hoosiers For Good and Hoosiers Connect, that lands basketball in or close to the top five nationally. It’s what helped build a transfer-plus-spring-recruiting class as robust as any in the country, and transform IU from a program approaching crisis to one that could well compete for a Big Ten title next year.

That’s thanks to a concerted effort between Athletic Director Scott Dolson and the apparatus behind Hoosiers For Good/Hoosiers Connect (they are run under the same umbrella).

The website nil-ncaa.com builds annual estimates of collective funding by school, using publicly available NIL data and cross-referencing it with fundraising numbers reported annually to the NCAA.

That data is largely limited to public schools, which are subject to records requests and information-access processes. But the site builds models around schools for which it has said information, and its estimates suggest Indiana sits in a comfortable place in the Big Ten.

Overall, the website estimates IU to be one of just six conference schools — Pac-12 arrivals included — with eight-figure overall NIL resources. The Hoosiers sit comfortably behind football powers Michigan (approx. $16.3 million) and Ohio State (approx. $20.2 million), but arrive at a number surprisingly close to Penn State. While the website estimates Penn State’s collective funding at nearly $13.8 million, Indiana comes in north of $13.6 million.

Some of that might be based on fundraising patterns skewed by a recent gift from the IU Foundation to the department to backfill COVID deficits. But IndyStar understands it’s not far removed from reality, albeit under acknowledgement such figures are never firm to the dollar and cent.

And while Dolson declined to discuss hard numbers during an interview for this story, he made it clear Indiana approached name, image and likeness fundraising from the earliest days departments and collectives could work together with a detailed plan to maximize Indiana’s opportunities under evolving NCAA policy.

“We had it all kind of come together at the same time. We had the infrastructure set up and the right people involved, and with that, people trust them,” Dolson said. “They don’t want to just put money in an envelope and leave it under a door somewhere. People trust the system. I think that trust is really important.”

For roughly the first year of NIL reform, collectives and other fundraising efforts were meant to exist entirely separate of university athletics departments. Relationships between departments and collectives were verboten, the NCAA hoping a see-no-evil approach in the space would prove wisest.

It did not. Leaders in college athletics quickly realized the entire structure would work not just more efficiently, but also more safely for all involved, if everyone kept one hand on the wheel together.

Not long after NCAA rules were amended to allow relationships between departments and what had to be declared official collectives, IU and Hoosiers For Good/Hoosiers Connect began launching multi-pronged fundraising efforts.

That shoe fit Dolson comfortably — the former men’s basketball manager spent most of his professional life fundraising for Indiana’s Varsity Club before moving across 17th Street to become Fred Glass’ deputy in 2009.

Soon, advertisements complete with QR codes for fundraising efforts began springing up at athletics events. Both sides coordinated seven-figure matching campaigns. IU converted long-standing fundraising events previously benefitting the department, including Indiana’s lucrative annual late-spring dinner at Huber’s Orchard and Winery in Borden, to NIL fundraisers. Hoosiers Connect even has official spirits, a vodka line and a bourbon bottling, through Huber’s attached distillery, Starlight.

“As the rules changed, at some point, it started to feel more comfortable,” Dolson said. “They opened it up where the athletic department could get more involved. We could fundraise in general and we could have our fundraisers, as they’re out there talking to people, really sort of advocate for (supporting NIL).

“That really helped.”

The results are basketball-specific NIL efforts that are believed to rival virtually any program in the country, and football-specific resources comfortably more than double what they were a year ago. Plus significant investments in women’s basketball, and Hoosiers For Good/Hoosiers Connect’s continued involvement with non-revenue sports across both the department’s men’s and women’s profiles.

The only certainty in name, image and likeness is that no amount of funding will ever be enough. And while collectives won’t cease operations, their focus will likely shift once revenue sharing arrives. But three years in, IU has managed itself to a necessarily competitive position.

“We understand we have to be really good at NIL to survive, but at the same time I’m proud about the way we’ve done it,” Dolson said. “When recruits come here, they know Indiana cares.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

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