Clunie Email re NIL
Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2024 3:32 pm
The College just sent an email from Chris Clunie addressing many of the questions and concerns about NIL that have been raised here. He describes how Davidson is (and has for several years now) been embracing the new landscape.
Here’s the text:
“Dear Wildcat Fans,
Davidson Athletics has a history of rising to the challenge. In the 1960s, football and men’s basketball moved Davidson College into national prominence. In 1984, women’s tennis won the school’s first-ever (and only to date) national championship. In 1992, men’s soccer defied belief by not just hosting but advancing to the Final Four. And in 2014, spurred by an incredible run to the 2008 Elite Eight and Coach Bob McKillop’s sustained success, Davidson Athletics catapulted from the Southern Conference to the Atlantic 10 Conference. These moments provide a mere snapshot of transformative impact, but this program has always embraced the challenges ahead…all while doing athletics the right way. However, we are undoubtedly facing some of our biggest challenges yet. And, as has always been the case, we need your support and partnership.
In June of 2021, pushed by both internal and external pressures, the NCAA gave scholar-athletes the opportunity to benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). This is something that Davidson Athletics wholeheartedly embraced. In August of 2021, we entered a partnership with INFLCR, a content platform for athletics which provided access to images that scholar-athletes could utilize across their social media platforms and NIL engagements. The partnership also provided education, resources and the ability for scholar-athletes to disclose deals. In February of 2023, Davidson Athletics launched the Davidson Wildcat Exchange, a portal that allows local business, donors, alums and other interested entities to connect and engage with Wildcat scholar-athletes as they pursue NIL opportunities.
While Davidson Athletics has tried to build a sustainable and healthy framework for NIL, different laws and attitudes across the rest of the country have created a chaotic landscape, especially within the sport of basketball. NIL, combined with the NCAA’s recent unlimited transfer rule, has created an inequitable marketplace where the focus is now on unregulated compensation as opposed to the uncompromising academic and athletic balance that makes Davidson so special. We know that scholar-athletes are not attracted to Davidson solely because of NIL; however, the new reality dictates that we not only embrace the opportunities that NIL provides for our scholar-athletes but also ground them in our foundation of doing athletics the right way. This is hard but is yet another challenge that we must and can face.
In addition to the Davidson Wildcat Exchange, which provides NIL opportunities for all our scholar-athletes, the Exit 30 Collective Inc. provides NIL opportunities for our men’s and women’s basketball programs. The mission of the collective is to raise awareness for charitable causes in North Carolina by partnering with basketball scholar-athletes who use their platform to support philanthropic work in our communities. What is special about the collective is that it was founded by and is managed by Davidson alums, meaning they understand the importance of a Davidson education, the importance of winning basketball programs to all Davidson sports, as well as tying NIL opportunities to leadership, service and impact.
Division I athletics is a distinct advantage for Davidson College, one in which we do not ask our scholar-athletes to compromise academic nor athletic excellence…they can and should strive for both. And amidst the ever-changing NCAA landscape, we feel strongly that Wildcat scholar-athletes can enhance their brands and engage in NIL opportunities while benefitting from a Davidson community that will never waver in its commitment to excellence and integrity. Throughout our history, Davidson Athletics has rewarded the audacity to do more with more. Because of your investment in and support of the Davidson Athletic Fund, the Davidson Wildcat Exchange and the Exit 30 Collective, we can and will continue to position this program for sustained and transformative success.
Thank you for your generosity, your investment and your commitment to Davidson Basketball, Davidson Athletics and Davidson College.
Go ’Cats!”
Here’s the text:
“Dear Wildcat Fans,
Davidson Athletics has a history of rising to the challenge. In the 1960s, football and men’s basketball moved Davidson College into national prominence. In 1984, women’s tennis won the school’s first-ever (and only to date) national championship. In 1992, men’s soccer defied belief by not just hosting but advancing to the Final Four. And in 2014, spurred by an incredible run to the 2008 Elite Eight and Coach Bob McKillop’s sustained success, Davidson Athletics catapulted from the Southern Conference to the Atlantic 10 Conference. These moments provide a mere snapshot of transformative impact, but this program has always embraced the challenges ahead…all while doing athletics the right way. However, we are undoubtedly facing some of our biggest challenges yet. And, as has always been the case, we need your support and partnership.
In June of 2021, pushed by both internal and external pressures, the NCAA gave scholar-athletes the opportunity to benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). This is something that Davidson Athletics wholeheartedly embraced. In August of 2021, we entered a partnership with INFLCR, a content platform for athletics which provided access to images that scholar-athletes could utilize across their social media platforms and NIL engagements. The partnership also provided education, resources and the ability for scholar-athletes to disclose deals. In February of 2023, Davidson Athletics launched the Davidson Wildcat Exchange, a portal that allows local business, donors, alums and other interested entities to connect and engage with Wildcat scholar-athletes as they pursue NIL opportunities.
While Davidson Athletics has tried to build a sustainable and healthy framework for NIL, different laws and attitudes across the rest of the country have created a chaotic landscape, especially within the sport of basketball. NIL, combined with the NCAA’s recent unlimited transfer rule, has created an inequitable marketplace where the focus is now on unregulated compensation as opposed to the uncompromising academic and athletic balance that makes Davidson so special. We know that scholar-athletes are not attracted to Davidson solely because of NIL; however, the new reality dictates that we not only embrace the opportunities that NIL provides for our scholar-athletes but also ground them in our foundation of doing athletics the right way. This is hard but is yet another challenge that we must and can face.
In addition to the Davidson Wildcat Exchange, which provides NIL opportunities for all our scholar-athletes, the Exit 30 Collective Inc. provides NIL opportunities for our men’s and women’s basketball programs. The mission of the collective is to raise awareness for charitable causes in North Carolina by partnering with basketball scholar-athletes who use their platform to support philanthropic work in our communities. What is special about the collective is that it was founded by and is managed by Davidson alums, meaning they understand the importance of a Davidson education, the importance of winning basketball programs to all Davidson sports, as well as tying NIL opportunities to leadership, service and impact.
Division I athletics is a distinct advantage for Davidson College, one in which we do not ask our scholar-athletes to compromise academic nor athletic excellence…they can and should strive for both. And amidst the ever-changing NCAA landscape, we feel strongly that Wildcat scholar-athletes can enhance their brands and engage in NIL opportunities while benefitting from a Davidson community that will never waver in its commitment to excellence and integrity. Throughout our history, Davidson Athletics has rewarded the audacity to do more with more. Because of your investment in and support of the Davidson Athletic Fund, the Davidson Wildcat Exchange and the Exit 30 Collective, we can and will continue to position this program for sustained and transformative success.
Thank you for your generosity, your investment and your commitment to Davidson Basketball, Davidson Athletics and Davidson College.
Go ’Cats!”