SDSU Leverages NIL to Give Back to Challenged Athletes in San Diego

San Diego State's NIL arm the MESA Foundation partnered with the Challenged Athletes Foundation to host a wheelchair basketball clinic for adaptive athletes

San Diego State Basketball hosts a clinic for adaptive athletes at the Jeff Jacobs Center. / Copyright. Armando Aguiler, MESA

This week, thirty athletes with disabilities and an interest in wheelchair basketball took to San Diego State’s Jeff Jacobs Jam Center, the basketball program's official practice facility. Alongside the visitors were twenty Aztec men’s and women’s basketball players eager to make a difference within their community. In a three-way partnership between San Diego State’s NIL arm The MESA Foundation, Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), and SDSU Adapted Athletics came together to put on a clinic to foster the development of athletes with disabilities and provide a worthwhile NIL engagement that fosters Aztec Basketball’s strong dedication to community service and personal growth.

The two-and-a-half-hour clinic allowed those participating to enjoy a shootaround with Aztec basketball players, scrimmages with student-athletes as coaches, and a group inclusive activity where Aztec athletes played alongside participants in wheelchairs.

Huge thank you to the Challenged Athletes Foundation, SDSU Adapted Athletics, and Aztec NIL for helping MESA host this incredible Basketball Camp! 🏀 The success of this event was measured by the countless smiles and the joy it brought to everyone involved. We couldn’t have done… pic.twitter.com/qkBiZFIQyl

— MESA San Diego (@mesa_aztecs) July 23, 2024

San Diego State NIL Coordinator Brenden Hill was delighted to watch this partnership blossom, “to witness the impact our student-athletes are able to have through their NIL is remarkable. It’s one of those things you don’t comprehend until you witness it in person.” Aztec NIL continues to lead by example in a hectic NIL environment. Athletes signed to collectives are often on retainer and required by contract to make a set number of appearances on behalf of the collective; it is more than commendable that Aztec athletes NIL obligations are focused on community enrichment, as opposed to alternatives such as fundraising.

Kyle Grozen, the Programs Manager at CAF, shared the palpable excitement within the organization about the partnership with SDSU athletes and The MESA Foundation: “The partnership between CAF and the MESA Foundation provides visibility and validation for athletes with a physical disability, and demonstrates SDSU Men’s and Women’s Basketball’s commitment towards giving back to their San Diego community through the MESA Foundation. For wheelchair basketball players, the opportunity to develop their craft and play in a world-class facility alongside some of the best collegiate athletes in the country is incredibly empowering, and MESA makes this possible. For the SDSU student-athletes, seeing an entirely different angle of the game they love brings out their passion for the shared experience of the sport, and builds a servant-leader mindset. The partnership speaks to the existence of a wider “community of sport” that crosses conventional norms and brings like-minded individuals and organizations together.”

According to Grozen, more events with The MESA Foundation are anticipated, “The MESA Foundation is an incredible partner, operating with the talent of a large-scale organization but the passion of a small group of dedicated leaders. CAF will continue to seek out any and all opportunities to empower lives through sport, and it’s exciting to imagine some of the ideas the two organizations can collaborate on moving forward.”

CAF is a preeminent force within the sporting community. Since its inception in 1994, CAF has raised over $178 million and fulfilled 48,000 funding requests from people with physical disabilities across all 50 states and more than 73 countries, impacting another 60,000 individuals annually through its outreach efforts.

CAF, already having a large and well-respected presence, is eager to continue to leverage NIL beyond San Diego State, “MESA Foundation is a true trail-blazer in the use of NIL to give back to local communities, and CAF would love to see other schools and collectives follow suit and see the value of service-based NIL opportunities.” I say this with all due respect, if other schools don’t take advantage of CAF’s reach and infrastructure to provide rewarding NIL opportunities to their athletes, they are doing a disservice to their athletic programs and their local communities.

San Diego State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Brian Dutcher is happy to leverage NIL to build his program’s culture, “we pride ourselves on recruiting high character student-athletes who excel both on and off the court. MESA stands for everything that this program stands for -- Team. Family. Community. It has been an incredible addition to our life skills program, developing responsible, community minded individuals through their partnerships with organizations like Challenged Athletes Foundation as well as many others.”

In an era where public perception would have you believe that every player is ready to race off to the highest bidder in the transfer portal, it is refreshing to hear that coaches still highlight their program's ability to help athletes grow both on and off the court. Dollars and cents do matter in the recruiting world, but transformational life experiences are priceless –– will personal development opportunities win a recruiting battle, maybe, maybe not, but for certain players, and their families, a positive team culture focused on wholistic development is priceless. 

Make no mistake, SDSU athletics is not resource-poor. Since NIL emerged in 2021, the Aztecs hold a record of 81 wins and 27 losses, two Mountain West Conference Championships, and a March Madness runner-up finish. Outside of Gonzaga, the Aztecs have punched above their weight relative to every other mid-major in the country –– is this because they have more money than their Power 5 counterparts? Assuredly not; we have seen how much blue-blood programs are willing to spend on top talent. Sometimes, the little things go the longest way. For Aztec basketball, as well as the San Diego community, the tenants of “Team. Family. Community.” is paying dividends.