McLean County Times

Illinois State University Athletics has announced the creation of the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund, aimed at providing strategic and unrestricted support to improve the competitiveness of its athletic programs. The fund will be managed by Athletics leadership and directed toward priorities such as recruiting, retention, and overall departmental excellence. Donors are encouraged to contribute to this new fund, which also offers tax deductions for their support.

The department also revealed the promotions of Dayton Hammes and Brennan White to key roles supporting name, image, and likeness (NIL) operations. Hammes will serve as Assistant Athletic Director for Social Media Strategy and Content, while White will take on the role of Assistant Athletic Director/General Manager and NIL Administration.

"We are fortunate to have talented people like Dayton Hammes and Brennan White helping lead the charge on NIL and Revenue Sharing," said Illinois State Deputy Director of Athletics Paul Kabbes. "We meet with each team on campus and one of the first things I mention to our young people is how impressive these individuals are in their respective areas. ISU Athletics will continue to be proactive in this changing landscape and I know these two are always looking out for the best interests of our student-athletes and coaching staffs. Great things are ahead for the Redbirds and a large reason for that has to do with Dayton and Brennan helping raise the bar each year."

Hammes joined Illinois State Athletics in 2019 as a graduate assistant in athletics communications before advancing through several roles focused on social media strategy. In her new position, she will oversee a team responsible for content across ISU’s athletics accounts. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to continue building on the strong foundation we've laid in the NIL and social media departments," Hammes stated. "I'm honored to step into this role and further elevate our digital presence by showcasing the student-athlete experience and creating content that connects our fans more closely to Illinois State Athletics."

White began his tenure at Illinois State working with cross country and track & field before leading NIL strategy across all sports. In his expanded role, he will guide student-athletes through NIL opportunities while ensuring compliance with institutional values, NCAA rules, and state law. "The future of college athletics is here with NIL and revenue sharing, and our team at Illinois State is embracing it head-on. Our focus remains on empowering student-athletes to maximize their opportunities while building programs that compete for championships," White said. "This investment reflects our relentless commitment to their success in their sport, the classroom, and in life. We're not here to keep pace with others; Illinois State will set the standard in the Missouri Valley Conference and at the national level to define what this new era of college athletics will look like."

Empower The Nest, an existing collective focused on facilitating NIL opportunities for Redbird athletes through partnerships with businesses, alumni, and supporters, reported significant growth over recent years. From fiscal year 2024 to 2025 there was a 434 percent increase in allocated funds for NIL deals as well as a 126 percent rise in student-athletes receiving such deals.

In addition to launching the new fund, ISU reports that donors contributed over $6 million last fiscal year—marking its second-highest fundraising total ever—which supports ongoing efforts by coaches to recruit top talent across all 19 intercollegiate sports.

GoRedbirds.com remains available as a resource for tickets, gifts, merchandise, photos, multimedia content, scholarship information, as well as updates about Illinois State Redbirds athletics.