Fans got a preview of the 2024-2025 Butler basketball season on Thursday, October 24, at the inaugural Butler Basketball Tip-Off Party, where head coaches Thad Matta and Austin Parkinson introduced their squads and hyped up the crowd with insights and predictions for the season ahead. Adding to the excitement as the season gets underway, Grant Leiendecker ʼ11, Butler’s Vice President and Director of Athletics, recently announced that Butler Athletics has raised more than $7.5 million in gifts and commitments in 2024. The majority of the commitments have come in response to the creation of The Butler Way Society, a philanthropic giving society launched earlier this year honoring Butler Athletics donors who make commitments of $75,000 or more, fulfilled within a five-year span.

“On behalf of our student-athletes and coaches, I am incredibly grateful for this outpouring of support from our donor community,” Leiendecker said. “These gifts are making a tangible difference in the quality of the experience we are able to offer our talented student-athletes and loyal fans.” 

A significant portion of the donor gifts and commitments have been made in support of the Men’s Basketball program, which Leiendecker notes is a critical component of Butler’s national reputation and brand recognition due in part to its visibility in the BIG EAST Conference. In fact, Butler’s Enrollment Management team has noted a spike in applications following particularly successful Men’s Basketball seasons. Gifts will also help to enhance the fan experience in Hinkle Fieldhouse as the basketball season kicks off with the men’s home opener on November 4 and the women’s home opener on November 6.

Other gifts have been directed to other sport programs and to the Bulldog Club, which provides broad operating support to the University’s 20 NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics programs. Since its creation, 52 households have joined The Butler Way Society, providing a significant source of reliable revenue for Butler Athletics and allowing leadership to make more informed budget decisions. For instance, Leiendecker shared that Butler Athletics recently hired a Director of Mental Health to provide more comprehensive mental health support to student-athletes. The decision was made possible in part thanks to the new multi-year commitments from donors, which help support long-term budget decisions such as new staff positions.

With more than 500 student-athletes, Butler Athletics represents 12 percent of the Butler student population, the largest percentage in the BIG EAST Conference. 

“Athletics is in the fabric of who we are as a University, and Athletics donors are impacting a significant number of Butler students through their gifts,” Leiendecker says. “Our student-athletes are amazing ambassadors for Butler, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they represent this University.”

Along with competitive success including the Men’s Cross Country team finishing 21st in the country at last year’s NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships and a 5-2 start for this year’s Football team, Butler student-athletes are consistently high achieving in the classroom as well. Spring 2024 marked the 11th consecutive semester that Butler student-athletes combined for a 3.3 or higher average GPA, which included 86 student-athletes achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA.

The more than $7.5 million in commitments include gifts to All Good Dawgs, Butler’s alumni-led Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) Collective. Thursday’s Tip-Off Party featured a number of local businesses participating in the NIL Marketplace, an inaugural vendor exhibition featuring NIL business partners. Butler Athletics has recently enhanced its management of NIL through a consulting partnership with Altius Sports Partners. The program includes customized guidance and expertise for student-athletes, coaches, and staff on topics such as compliance, personal branding, finances, student-athlete compensation, and how to maximize NIL opportunities.

Butler President Jim Danko, who represents the University on the BIG EAST Board of Directors, acknowledged it is an era of great upheaval in collegiate athletics that will pose challenges for all institutions, but expressed confidence in the vision, leadership, and community of support behind Butler Athletics.

“There is a great deal of momentum behind our Athletics programs thanks to the partnership of our donors, who are investing in our student-athletes through their generous gifts and commitments,” Danko says. “Grant’s transition into the role of Vice President has been seamless, and from the moment he set foot on campus in August 2023, he has been an extraordinary leader. He has forged critical connections and raised new funds that have put Butler Athletics in a position of great strength as we look to the future.”