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Marquette and Wisconsin NIL Collectives Host Charity Softball Game

Marquette and Wisconsin NIL Collectives Host Charity Softball Game

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OCONOMOWOC – The NCAA’s decision to allow name, image and likeness deals for athletes has disrupted college sports.

Over the past three years, critics have lamented the loss of tradition and the fact that individuals are putting themselves ahead of teams, while players take to the transfer market to shop for the best deals.

But in this new era, there’s still room for something like the Wisconsin vs. Marquette Celebrity Softball Slam on Sunday night at Wisconsin Brewing Company Park. It honored a time-honored rivalry, raised money for a variety of charities, and yes, current college athletes got paid to show up.

More: Middle fingers, flipped recruits and ‘scrambled eggs’: State residents look back on intense basketball rivalry between Marquette and Wisconsin

The event was the brainchild of Brian Lammi, CEO and founder of sports marketing agency Team Lammi. He has deep ties to athletes on both sides of the state’s biggest college rivalry. Lammi has known former UW basketball star Brian Butch for years, and Lammi helps run ex-MU sharpshooter Steve Novak’s growing “2sFrees3s” shooting league. Lammi and Golden Eagles legend Travis Diener coach each other’s kids.

Novak and Diener are heavily involved with the MU-related NIL collective Be The Difference. That spurred the UW’s Varsity Collective to join their team, and soon the game was played at the American Association of Professional Baseball’s Lake Country Dockhounds ballpark.

“They have a platform now,” said Butch, who also works as a basketball reporter. “You have to teach these younger guys that even though the NIL is a part of it, your lifespan in how you can help a community is much greater than the four years you play or the five years you play. So I think you have to teach the younger guys a little bit about, hey, it’s about giving back and finding the time.”

The crowd of hundreds was treated to a fun show. MU basketball star Kam Jones showed off his cannon arm at third base, while teammate Chase Ross tracked down several deep flies in right field. UW wide receiver Bryson Green beat Ross in a footrace while they both carried giant, inflatable Lake Louie beer cans. Badgers softball player Molly Schlosser won a dizzy-bat competition.

There was a lot of light banter between the parties. Former UW tight end Travis Beckum took the mic to say that the only good thing about Marquette is the Marquette Interchange, so people in Milwaukee can go to UW sporting events in Madison. Novak reminded Beckum that MU hasn’t lost a football game since 1960.

Novak hit a walk-off, two-run home run and took off his shirt while sprinting around the bases. That came after some antics in which Diener, who had already hit two home runs, hit out of order in a last-ditch strategic move. Butch chided Diener about the value of an MU education, and then Beckum let Diener walk to set the stage for Novak’s heroics.

“At the end of the day, it’s a friendly competition,” Diener said. “We want to win. We all want to win. They want to win, too.”

Travis Diener and Steve Novak are excited to collaborate with Be The Difference

Diener and Novak have been involved with Be The Difference NIL from the beginning.

Novak said they looked at how other schools set up their collectives, but decided to tie athletes’ compensation to charitable activities.

“The Jesuits call it ‘men for others,’” Novak said. “I think we owe it to our donors to honor that.”

Proceeds from the softball game went to charities including the LC DockHounds Foundation, Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame Foundation, Kai Lermer Memorial Fund and the Nicole Ellis Foundation.

The Be the Difference NIL collective has previously worked with groups such as Children’s Wisconsin Hospital and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Milwaukee.

“I think you can see by the way they’re acting, when you look at the four male players and the four female players, how much they enjoyed it,” Diener said. “So they’re coming back and giving back and being involved in all the different charities that the collective is a part of. It’s not just here, it’s the Boys and Girls Club, all the things that we do as a collective.

“But I think when you look at these kids and how they deal with, whether it’s a sick kid or a kid who might be from an impoverished area, and how they treat them and how they brighten their day. I think that’s something that the collective had, that was the vision to begin with. I think our athletes execute that vision to the highest level.”

Butch, Diener and Novak were all college athletes before NIL deals were allowed by the NCAA.

“I think it’s completely different than it was 18-24 months ago,” said Diener, who declined to disclose how much MU athletes were paid for their performances. “I think we’re doing it the best way we can.

“We partner with nonprofits. We bring these student-athletes into the community. We show a little bit of their character. Obviously they get compensated for it, but in order for teams or schools to remain competitive nationally, we have to have something. I think we’re doing it the right way by having these athletes in the community and showing who they are as people.”

Butch is bothered by the fact that some schools use NIL deals to lure athletes, but he also knows how quickly things can change in this new world.

“It’s a pay-for-play situation now,” Butch said. “And it’s going to change even more. I think it’s going to go back to where it belongs.

“Kids who can use their name to run a camp or whatever. That’s what it should be. Right now we’re not there yet. I think at some point we will be.”