Who is 'Cowboy Tommy'? The 12-year-old dancing Illini basketball fan with his own T-shirt

Illinois basketball has an unofficial mascot for its deep run into March Madness.

Tommy Rouse — known online as "Cowboy Tommy" or "Cowboy Hat Kid" — has become a sensation as the Illini men's basketball team made its run to the Elite Eight game Saturday against UConn.

Sporting an orange cowboy hat and sunglasses, the cherubic 12-year-old seventh-grader rose to viral fame during the regular season by dancing in the stands at State Farm Center in Champaign.

Now, Rouse has his own T-shirt available through The Illinois NIL Store. It's an orange design that features "COWBOY TOMMY" and "GO ILLINI!" in block lettering, encircling a comic-style picture of Tommy in the iconic hat and sunglasses holding a sign that reads "the world needs more cowboys."

According to WCIA-TV in Champaign, the design is the site's hottest seller.

“All my friends keep asking me, can I get a shirt? When can I get a shirt?" Rouse told WCIA. "I’m like, you can buy one! I can supply one."

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Half of the money from the sales goes to Illinois' community-focused NIL group ICON Collective and the other half to Rouse's college fund, according to WCIA.

"It feels good," Rouse told the station. "Overwhelming at times, but I don’t really care.”

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Cowboy Tommy Illini basketball fan has own T-shirt