I was part of a Zoom call with TrueNU executive director Jacob Schmidt last night that was organized by Lake the Posts. I'm going to interview Jacob soon and write another story for WR, but here are a few of the takeaways from last night's discussion:
- TrueNU raised a total of $3.6 million. So far, they have paid more than $1 million to 200 athletes across 13 sports programs, and they still hope to support athletes all 19 sports this year. As you might imagine, fundraising took a major hit after the hazing scandal broke and Fitz was subsequently fired in July. Jacob says that fundraising has gotten significantly more difficult. He feels that while Northwestern will never compete with Michigan and Ohio State in the NIL space, they are competitive with other programs in the Big Ten West.
- TrueNU is still only working with charities at this point. NU is the only Big Ten program that only has a not-for-profit arm, as everyone else is also working with commercial organizations. TrueNU originally hoped to get a commercial arm up and running, but the events of the summer have obviously altered those plans. This doesn't mean that NU athletes can't work with private companies, however. If a private company wants to get involved with an NU athlete, they can work with the athlete and/or his agent directly, or go through INFLCR, the NIL branding organization that NU uses.
- The focus of TrueNU is still on retaining current athletes rather than using NIL to recruit. They are proud of the package they put together to retain Boo Buie for the basketball program this year. For football, they may be putting together similar packages to keep guys like AJ Henning and Anto Saka in Evanston. It's going to be tough enough rebuilding the roster after the season, no matter who is the coach, so they're going to do everything they can to keep their best players in purple.
- You haven't seen much TrueNU gear around because they want as many of the dollars they raise as possible to go to athletes. Rather than tchotchkes, they are more likely to offer top donors access to players and events. This weekend, for example, Coach Collins is hosting an event for TrueNU donors at his house, with several athletes in attendance.
- Fitz played NIL strictly by the book, as we all know. He was in favor of salaries for all players, tiered by years in the program -- lowest for freshmen, highest for seniors. However, Jacob knows that a new coach could want to organize it differently, so that may change depending on who gets the job. TrueNU likes the egalitarian concept of salaries, but they are open to different systems. In the end, they will do whatever it takes to support the program and the head coach.
- TrueNU raised a total of $3.6 million. So far, they have paid more than $1 million to 200 athletes across 13 sports programs, and they still hope to support athletes all 19 sports this year. As you might imagine, fundraising took a major hit after the hazing scandal broke and Fitz was subsequently fired in July. Jacob says that fundraising has gotten significantly more difficult. He feels that while Northwestern will never compete with Michigan and Ohio State in the NIL space, they are competitive with other programs in the Big Ten West.
- TrueNU is still only working with charities at this point. NU is the only Big Ten program that only has a not-for-profit arm, as everyone else is also working with commercial organizations. TrueNU originally hoped to get a commercial arm up and running, but the events of the summer have obviously altered those plans. This doesn't mean that NU athletes can't work with private companies, however. If a private company wants to get involved with an NU athlete, they can work with the athlete and/or his agent directly, or go through INFLCR, the NIL branding organization that NU uses.
- The focus of TrueNU is still on retaining current athletes rather than using NIL to recruit. They are proud of the package they put together to retain Boo Buie for the basketball program this year. For football, they may be putting together similar packages to keep guys like AJ Henning and Anto Saka in Evanston. It's going to be tough enough rebuilding the roster after the season, no matter who is the coach, so they're going to do everything they can to keep their best players in purple.
- You haven't seen much TrueNU gear around because they want as many of the dollars they raise as possible to go to athletes. Rather than tchotchkes, they are more likely to offer top donors access to players and events. This weekend, for example, Coach Collins is hosting an event for TrueNU donors at his house, with several athletes in attendance.
- Fitz played NIL strictly by the book, as we all know. He was in favor of salaries for all players, tiered by years in the program -- lowest for freshmen, highest for seniors. However, Jacob knows that a new coach could want to organize it differently, so that may change depending on who gets the job. TrueNU likes the egalitarian concept of salaries, but they are open to different systems. In the end, they will do whatever it takes to support the program and the head coach.
