Illini Guardians In The News

ILLINI GUARDIANS ON THE ILLINIGUYS PODCAST

May 30, 2022 | IlliniGuys

CHICAGO, IL – IlliniGuys Larry Smith @LarrySmithTV, Brad Sturdy @Sturdy32 & Mike Cagley @MikeCagley talk with Adam Fleischer @IlliniFleisch of Illini Guardians.

ILLINOIS ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT PREPARING FOR NIL ARMS RACE AFTER NEW LEGISLATION

May 24, 2022 | The Pantagraph

DECATUR, IL – Days after the Illinois legislature passed a bill on Friday allowing universities to facilitate NIL deals, Whitman, basketball coach Brad Underwood and football coach Bret Bielema were in a room addressing over a hundred donors.

100 STUDENT-ATHLETES TAKE DAY OFF SOCIAL MEDIA SPONSORED BY ILLINI GUARDIANS

Mar 14, 2022 | Press Release

CHAMPAIGN, IL – One hundred Illinois student-athletes across all sports have partnered with Day Off Social, a national nonprofit created to encourage young people to take time away from social media in pursuit of in person community engagement and healthy personal habits.

ILLINI GUARDIANS READY TO ROCK IF KOFI RETURNS

Mar 12, 2022 | IlliniGuys

CHAMPAIGN, IL – During the last two decades, few who have dominated college basketball like Cockburn for multiple seasons would even consider returning to college basketball for a fourth year. But this, of course, is a new era of college basketball — one in which student-athletes are actually allowed to earn money for endorsements and one in which program boosters can openly talk about efforts to funnel funds to players, which now is fully and publicly embraced by the university — as long as the new rules are followed, of course.

THE POWER OF NIL: ILLINI HELPING ILLINI ON CHICAGO’S SOUTH SIDE

Feb 26, 2022 | Press Release

CHICAGO, IL – In a demonstration of the powerful reach and impact college name, image and likeness (NIL) programming can bring to the community, Illinois star football players, Isaiah Williams and Alex Palczewski, met with Chicago grade school students on February 26, 2022 at the Evolution Express Art Show on Chicago’s South Side in celebration of Black History Month.

ILLINI GUARDIANS ALLOWING FANS TO GET INTO THE NIL GAME

Jan 22, 2022 | Champaign-Urbana News Gazette

URBANA, IL — Jana Mitchell has owned Illini basketball season tickets since 2006. When the NCAA changed its rules last year to allow student-athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness, she wanted a way to help her favorite Illini, but her independent consulting role didn’t give her much opportunity.

NEW ILLINI BOOSTER GROUP AIMS TO GIVE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS ATHLETES’ NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS A DO-GOODER TWIST

Jan 22, 2022 | News Article

CHICAGO, IL – As the once-taboo, now common practice of paying college athletes continues to spread, a group of University of Illinois boosters aims to give the money chase a do-gooder twist.

ILLINI SUPPORTERS LAUNCH NIL COLLECTIVE ILLINI GUARDIANS: “YOU HAVE TO GET IN THE GAME”

Jan 20, 2022 | News Article

CHAMPAIGN, IL – Fleischer is one of a handful of founders of a new name, image and likeness collective called Illini Guardians, a third-party organization that plans to raise and disperse NIL funds to Illini student-athletes in return for marketing and philanthropic appearances. The group of volunteers is a not-for-profit organization of well connected alumni with the goals of boosting the Illini’s NIL opportunities in a way that can also benefit communities in the state and help the student-athletes make meaningful connections.

BREAKING: CHICAGO-BASED ILLINI GUARDIANS KICKSTARTS MAJOR NIL INITIATIVE

Jan 20, 2022 | News Article

CHICAGO, IL – “The Illini Guardians will guide student-athletes toward the most lucrative and powerful use of NIL opportunities, while also using their time and talents to benefit local youth organizations, and ultimately to foster the integrity and reputation of a world class university.”