Hoosiers For Good Executive Director Tyler Harris Details Summer Class of 11 IU Athletes
Hoosiers For Good provides Indiana student athletes with NIL opportunities different – and perhaps more meaningful – than most.
Last week, Hoosiers For Good announced its summer 2022 class, which featured 11 Indiana basketball players. Hoosiers For Good raised a total of $425,00 in NIL compensation for the class, which includes Xavier Johnson, Jalen Hood-Schifino, Malik Reneau, Kaleb Banks, Logan Duncomb, Trey Galloway, Sydney Parrish, Jordan Geronimo, CJ Gunn, Miller Kopp and Tamar Bates.
"We want to raise awareness for charities and a big component of that is the students' platform and their influence on social media," Tyler Harris, Executive Director of Hoosiers For Good, said. "That was really kind of the intentional aspect of this class is identifying athletes that really have a big platform that are able to drive awareness for our charitable partners."
When Harris helped start Hoosiers For Good, he wanted to create a meaningful experience for all parties involved. In this year-long commitment, each student-athlete is obligated to make 14 social media posts and five in-person appearances to help spread awareness for their charity. The student-athletes include "Hoosiers For Good Athlete" and the link to their charitable partner in their social media bio.
These in-person appearances can range anywhere from a presentation on the charity to autograph-signing and picture-taking events.
"We've built the agreement in a way to provide a lot of flexibility for our charitable partners to utilize them in the best way that they deem fit for their mission," Harris said. "We're really just trying to drive awareness to the beneficiary charities because if you drive awareness, more eyes see their mission and hopefully more dollars to that organization."
Here is a breakdown of each partnership for the summer 2022 class:
- Xavier Johnson: A Kid Again
- Malik Reneau, Jalen Hood-Schifino: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana
- Kaleb Banks, Logan Duncomb: Cancer Support Community South Central Indiana
- Trey Galloway: LittleStar ABA Therapy Bloomington
- Sydney Parrish: Riley Children's Foundation
- Jordan Geronimo, CJ Gunn: Warriors 4 Peace
- Miller Kopp, Tamar Bates: YMCA of Monroe County
Harris ultimately selects the charity each athlete is assigned to, but he took note of a few specific connections related to this class. Trey Galloway's brother has high-functioning autism, which inspired him to partner with LittleStar ABA Therapy, an organization that assists individuals with autism.
"Trey Galloway's family has been affected by autism and really passionate about helping those with autism," Harris said. "So naturally he was a great fit with LittleStar, and effectively requested LittleStar. You look at it like a job, all that experience he had growing up adds value to an organization like LittleStar."
Hoosiers For Good's newly-signed summer class hasn't made any in-person appearances yet, but Harris has been thrilled with the work members of the spring class have done. Indiana basketball players Trayce Jackson-Davis and Race Thompson attended a Push, Paddle, Pedal event in Fort Wayne through their partnership with Turnstone Center, an organization that empowers people with disabilities to achieve their highest potential.
Indiana football players Shaun Shivers and AJ Barner work with Recycle Force, an organization that recycles electronics and employs individuals with a troubled background. Whether the employees recently got out of jail or rehab, Harris said it was a meaningful experience for Shivers and Barner to hear their stories.
"Those things have been really gratifying," Harris said. "And really just the ability to expose young people to those really important causes and allow them to use their NIL in a meaningful way that's going to help our communities thrive."
Before helping start Hoosiers For Good roughly five months ago, Harris was an Associate Athletic Director and head of compliance at Indiana University from 2017 to 2022 where he became well-versed in NCAA rules and risk management. Taking what he learned in that role, Harris said these NIL opportunities will only be provided for current Indiana student athletes, and they're not going to be involved in the recruiting space.
"We're going to be really conservative," Harris said. "You see across the country that's not always the case, but it's always been my thought that in this environment that you can still compete at a high level and be very successful doing things the right way. So we're going to make sure that we're abiding by IU's number one priority of playing by the rules."
Hoosiers For Good works with a pair of notable Indiana University alumni. 1984 IU School of Law graduate and former IU Athletic Director Fred Glass serves as the legal counsel for Hoosiers For Good, and Indiana basketball's all-time leading scorer Calbert Cheaney is the Vice Chair and Vice President.
"Everyone knows about [Calbert] as a basketball player," Harris said. "But he's a better human and he's really taken on a great role at Hoosiers for Good, and he's been super engaged and that's only going to make us better. "
Related stories on Indiana basketball:
- TAMAR BATES' NEW PURPOSE: Indiana guard Tamar Bates withstood the loss of a close family member during his freshman season as he navigated life as a Big Ten basketball player. But after the birth of his daughter, Bates feels a heightened level of focus as he approaches what he hopes to be a big sophomore season. CLICK HERE
- LIAM MCNEELEY TO VISIT INDIANA: Class of 2024 five-star recruit Liam McNeeley will take an official visit to the Indiana University campus from Sept. 23-25. McNeeley began his high school career at John Paul II outside of Dallas, Texas, but he will transfer to Montverde Academy for his final two years. CLICK HERE
- JALEN HARALSON, TRENT SISLEY VISIT INDIANA: Mike Woodson and the Indiana basketball coaching staff are hoping to make an early impression on a pair of 2025 in-state recruits. Jalen Haralson from Fishers, Ind. visited the Indiana campus on Monday, and Trent Sisley from Heritage Hills High School was in Bloomington on Tuesday. CLICK HERE
