At the Dear Old Clemson event held on Saturday, Aug. 27, the Clemson softball team signed memorabilia and met with fans as a NIL opportunity for the team.
As a representative and liaison for the team, graduate student and former member of the team Sam Russ takes a lot of pride in what the event meant to softball and women’s sports as a whole.
Russ, who spent the first four years of her college career at N.C. State transferred to Clemson for her fifth and final year of eligibility. Russ led the ACC with a program record of 29 stolen bases and was an ACC All-Academic in 2022. Russ is currently completing her MBA at Clemson but felt so connected to the team she knew she had an opportunity to create something special alongside the team.
“I knew the team was something special, as good as it was in such a short amount of time,” said Russ. “How close we were to going to the World Series in just our third year, I knew in year four we had some big things planned.”
Russ is working with Dear Old Clemson as a former athlete advisor for the softball program.
In doing so, Russ is helping connect her former teammates with lucrative NIL opportunities that can not only build their brand as a player, but help them after their softball career is over.
She described Dear Old Clemson as an organization that makes these opportunities for athletes possible.
“Dear Old Clemson is an amazing opportunity for these girls to get involved in NIL money,” she said.
Russ has the goal and initiative to create equal opportunities for NIL for women’s sports and by assisting the softball team she hopes to make a true impact on the athletes’ lives and the opportunities they receive.
“You see male-dominated teams really impacted from this and take this to their advantage,” said Russ. “You see how popular softball is in the Clemson area and it can have an impact as well and can really provide benefits for these girls.
“It’s amazing to see the support and how many people truly appreciate Clemson softball and they want to come to meet these girls and get their autographs because they look up to them,” said Russ. “They look up to these girls, these girls are their role models.”
Dear Old Clemson looks to do NIL “the Clemson way” and Russ takes great pride in the team and their feats on the field, but also the growth of each of these girls’ brands and the promotion of women’s sports as a whole. NIL at Clemson can impact the lives of the members of the team, but also can create a standard for other women’s sports across the college landscape.
Dear Old Clemson has loaded up our online store with some great collectibles from our event for the Clemson softball team.
Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out all the different ways you can help!
