Cullowhee Collective was founded last summer to support WCU student-athletes through their college careers. Much of the collective’s work centers around providing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) sponsorship opportunities to its members.
Passed in 2021, NIL sponsorships allow student-athletes to receive monetary benefits for their name, image and likeness. This can be, but is not limited to endorsements, appearances, partnerships and affiliations.
“Whether or not we agree that student athletes should be paid, the reality is that they can be. We don’t make up the rules, we just react to them,” said WCU Athletics Director Alex Gary.
Cullowhee Collective acts as a liaison between student-athletes and firms who wish to contract them. While focused on sponsorship, there’s more to the collective. Founding member Mike Crawford said they want to support Catamount Athletics in any way possible.
Second baseman Lily Bell explains that it’s not just about the NIL deals. She says it’s more of a support network for WCU athletes.
“We’re not an Auburn, Alabama, Georgia-type school, but we’re still division one. It’s important to remember that we’re in a small town with a smaller demographic, so we’re grateful for any support that we get.”
“It can be hard going through every single day, putting the pressure on yourself to perform,” she said. “It’s nice to have such good people behind you.”
Cullowhee Collective was founded by five WCU alumni who wanted to give back to their alma mater. Crawford, a 1987 graduate, saw room for Catamount Athletics to provide more for its student-athletes.
“It’s a great benefit to student-athletes. It’s going to help to recruit and to retain these student-athletes,” Crawford said. “We’ve already seen the collective make a difference in the recruiting efforts and success of our new basketball coach, Tim Craft.”
Exact numbers aren’t available, but Crawford says the collective has been successful in securing NIL contracts for WCU student-athletes.
“We’ve had a good start, but I think over the next twelve months we’ll see more people get involved as we educate as to what we can and can’t do through the collective,” he said.
In the three years before the formation of the collective, WCU student-athletes were left on their own to secure NIL contracts.
“What they’re helping us do exceeds expectations and I’m really grateful for it,” Bell said.
WCU Athletics Director Alex Gary says the collective is a benefit to WCU’s ability to recruit and retain student-athletes.
“Because we know that activity is happening at our level, and at all levels of division one, it’s important for us to respond in the appropriate way so that we can provide the appropriate student-athlete experience,” Gary said.
Gary seems happy with Cullowhee Collective’s work but says it’s still a work-in-progress.
“The marketplace in college athletics, so to speak, is very competitive,” Gary said. “If school A fills four positions, and those athletes get, say, $15,000, that’s pretty good. If school B is Western Carolina University, and we can only offer $2000, we lose our competitive edge.”
Cullowhee Collective is not directly affiliated with WCU, per NCAA regulations. Around the same time as the creation of Cullowhee Collective, the NCAA proposed a new program for NIL sponsorship that would allow direct compensation from the university.
The proposal is a result of House v. NCAA, filed in 2020. The proposal will allow academic institutions like WCU to offer direct benefits to student-athletes without contracting an outside party. Student-athletes may also be eligible for backpay of unrealized NIL sponsorships.
Institutions can choose whether to take part in the new NIL outline or continue as they have since 2021. A final hearing will be held April 7, 2025.
Gary said WCU chose not to opt into the new legislation, following with most SOCON schools. He said there’s too many unknown factors with university-sponsored programs.
“I’d like to have clarity on how this works mechanically before jumping into it four months from now. We still don’t have clarity as it comes to Title IX, contracts and that sort of thing,” Gary said.
While WCU won’t participate in the program this summer, Gary said Catamount Athletics is keeping the possibility open for next summer.
If WCU decides to opt into the program, it may provide some benefits to current Catamount Athletics sponsors. Sponsors who currently provide financial support to WCU’s programs though Cullowhee Collective must pay tax on their donations. If WCU were to provide direct compensation to student-athletes and sponsors donated through the university, donations would be tax-exempt.
Even before the new NCAA rules, institutions offered financial aid to student-athletes. The Alston Award, implemented in August 2020, allows institutions to award up to $5980 to student-athletes who meet certain academic requirements. Gary said WCU will begin to present the Alston Awards July 1, 2025.
The new legislation also includes sport-specific roster caps. If an institution is to opt-in to the program, each of their teams will be subject to a limit on registered student-athletes. For WCU, that means cutting a significant portion of athletes from every sport.
