New AD Grant Leiendecker on how NIL may test The Butler Way, a need to 'close the gap.'

Seventy-thousand screaming fans packed into Lucas Oil Stadium, most cheering on underdog Butler as the Bulldogs exited the tunnel onto the court for the 2010 NCAA Final Four. It's a feeling that will stay with new Butler athletic director Grant Leiendecker for the rest of his life.

Leiendecker had a front-row seat. His first year as a player at Butler coincided with outgoing AD Barry Collier's return to campus. Collier's decision to hire Brad Stevens as head coach reenergized the basketball program, thrusting Butler and the Butler Way into the national spotlight.

The Fort Wayne native and father of five who played under Stevens, alongside stars Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack, met his wife Kylee at the school and was married on campus at Holcomb Gardens. He is tasked with helping lead the program back to prominence as its new athletic director after studying the poise and leadership of his predecessor, Collier.

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"(Butler is) a place where I spent a lot of time building relationships, pouring out blood, sweat and tears as we're growing and competing and trying to be the best team we can be," Leiendecker told IndyStar in a sit-down interview. "Just so many memories, so many formative times in my life, that ultimately put me on this trajectory to want to pursue a career in this industry. Now to have the opportunity to do something that I love, at a place that I love is surreal."

Leiendecker returns to Butler after spending four years as the Assistant Vice President and Senior Associate Athletic Director for Development at Marquette. There and at his previous position at the University of North Carolina as the Director of Major Gifts for The Rams Club, Leiendecker was in charge of fundraising. At Marquette, a fellow Big East school with a larger enrollment but without a football program, Leiendecker helped raise more than $15.7 million in commitments during the most recent fiscal year.

In today's college athletics landscape schools need substantial Name, Image and Likeness compensation to be competitive. Per figures provided by Opendorse analyzing the past two years of NIL, NIL collectives delivered 75% of all NIL compensation in Year 2 of the current system.

The top spenders of Power 5 conference schools have NIL collectives contributing more than $10 million to college athletes. Middle tier Power 5 schools have NIL contributions between $10 million to $5 million, followed by lower tier Power 5 and upper tier rest of 5 Schools ($5 million to $1 million).

At Power 5 schools, football players have an average compensation of $7,262, followed by men's basketball players ($4,929) and women's basketball players ($2,070). At Rest of 5 schools, men's basketball players have an average compensation of $3,089, followed by women's basketball players ($1,316) and football players ($1,093).

The compensation provided by Butler's NIL collective All Good Dawgs is not publicly available. But as a basketball-focused school, Leiendecker knows Butler must increase its NIL contributions to compete in the Big East.

"I think it's fair to say that you're going to see more change in college athletics over the next five years than we probably have in the last 50 years," Leiendecker said. "We've got to be extremely adaptable. We've got to find a way to generate more resources, which we have. With my fundraising background, we're able to apply a lot of things that I've learned and developed at other institutions and in bringing some of the science of that here."

Can Butler make structural changes fast enough to remain competitive?

For the second season in a row, coach Thad Matta's roster is undergoing a complete overhaul. Both starting guards DJ Davis and Posh Alexander left for opportunities at other schools. Starting forward Jahmyl Telfort is weighing his options at a pro career, where he'll likely be better compensated for his services than at Butler. Without a football program generating revenue, it's hard to think Butler can contend with schools in the SEC or Big Ten for recruits. Gary native and former FAU star Johnell Davis is reportedly being offered seven figures from John Calipari and Arkansas, forcing him to consider delaying a pro career to remain in college.

What Butler lacks in alumni base and wealthy beneficiaries, Leiendecker is hoping to make up for with Indianapolis-area fans of high-level basketball. He's hoping a trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse can convert an Indy-area fan to a Butler fan and future donor.

Leiendecker said he believes the Butler Way can still exist in today's college basketball — it'll just look a little different than what Bulldogs fans are used to.

"Ultimately, the Butler Way is our culture," he said. "It's how we operate. It's how we act, interact and respond every day in this building. It's the way we represent our program on the court and off the court, the way we treat people. That's not going to change, no matter who we bring in these doors.

"Our goal is going to be to continue to attract and retain the people that want to be at Butler for those reasons that are bigger than money... We're not bringing people here for money. All those things that are synonymous with the Butler Way are the reasons why they're coming, but money can't be the reason why they leave. We've got to close the gap on the resources that we're able to offer and provide in a way that makes it harder for them to leave. That's our goal right now. Ultimately, I believe that we're going to attract people for the right reasons and build a sustainable, competitive program year in and year out."

Back-to-back national champion UConn has made the reimagined Big East into the best basketball conference in the NCAA. Five of the past 10 national championship games have featured a Big East team. Butler's trips to the title game happened as a member of the Horizon League. Since joining the Big East in 2013, the Bulldogs have reached the NCAA tournament five times with one trip to the Sweet 16.

Leiendecker said since joining the Big East, Butler has raised its profile, expanding its reach as a university throughout the nation. Leiendecker added he's happy with the progress of all the school's athletic programs, and any thought of contracting the athletic programs offered to divert those funds toward the basketball program will not be considered.

"For Butler University, we are extremely proud of the opportunities that we're able to offer all of our student-athletes, providing those opportunities is really important to our university," Leiendecker said. "When you think about what they add on this campus — the diversity in pulling people from all over the country, the opportunity for them to represent this institution whether it's in a track uniform, or lacrosse or golf — these programs are really important to the overall culture of our athletics department and the university on a broader scale.

"I don't think that that comes at the expense of our investment in men's basketball. Certainly, men's basketball is the economic engine when you think about our athletics programs. It is the one program that generates revenue that ultimately is going to help support all of our programs and so, the university is committed to continue to invest in that program and others in a way that's going to allow them to all continue to be more competitive on a national landscape."

Follow IndyStar Butler Insider Akeem Glaspie on X at @THEAkeemGlaspie.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: New Butler AD Grant Leiendecker aiming to raise NIL funds, resources