Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
We're back.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the Craig Way Show with Hall of Fame broadcaster
and voice of the Texas Longhearts Craig Way.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Rolling on through a Thursday afternoon here on Sports Radio
AM thirteen hundreds. I'm glad to have you alongside Craig Way,
alongside the producer Cameron Parker. Please to be joined our
next guest, and we wanted to get him on as
this season prepares to commence because a great many folks
have asked me over time, not nearly as many as
(00:39):
have asked him and others associated and affiliated and sponsoring
of University of Texas Athletics about you know, the Texas
One Fund and donations and how this works and all
that sort of stuff. And so that's why we wanted
to have the gentleman on. His name is Patrick Smith,
(01:00):
but nobody calls him that. Everybody knows him as Wheels,
and we're pleased to have him join us on the
hot line. I'm gonna start with that, Wheels. When's the
last time somebody called you Patrick?
Speaker 1 (01:10):
It's been a minute.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
It's been a minute, Creg. I mean eighth grade baseball
nickname has lasted the rest of my life.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
So I'm gonna stick with it, but it's been a while, okay.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
So that's that was to let folks know why the
nickname wheels because you had them, right, You had them
when you were playing baseball.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Some would say the opposite of.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Playing I had him.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
So it's a mixed bag.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
I got you now. I also know at least this
is how I think of it in my mind, and
you can you can redirect me on this that you've
kind of reinvented the name because you, my friend, have
been the guy who has been behind the wheel with
the University of Texas vice president and director of Athletics,
(01:57):
our friend Chris del Conti. You have been the guy
to make sure CDC gets to the NCAA basketball tournaments,
uh for for Texas over the past few years.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Am I right?
Speaker 2 (02:08):
That's absolutely one hundred correct. And the the the length
of those drives have been staggering, and there wasn't a
quiet moment between us, so that you're exactly right. And
again he'll say, I'm I'm a worst driver. I will
bet my bottom dollar he may be the worst driver
(02:31):
I've ever seen, but we do it together. It's the
bonding experience has been fun.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
You know what, when I saw you two roll in
in the in the suv into des moin in the snow,
that's when I knew this was serious business.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
That's right, that's right, it's it's it's gotten a little
out of control. Doctor Robin Ward. His wife will always
take the first picture when we line up, and uh,
you know, it's it's been fun.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
For sure.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
You've been on our long run weekly programs in the past.
But I wanted to give you a chance to explain
just a little bit to folks, because when folks hear
about collectives, and you hear about nil and then you
hear about Texas One Fund, there's I know, there's some
mystery for some folks out there about how it works
and why it works and the and the need for
(03:20):
it and all that sort of stuff. And I wanted
to give you a chance to kind of untangle the
weeds a little bit and let folks know a little
bit about why this is the way it is and
and ultimately how they can help. But beyond that, what
the mission is and helping out student athletes for you tea.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Yeah, absolutely, So you know how this originated in this space,
this idea of Collectives was really a group of fans, boosters,
alumni coming together to support student athletes almost directly.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
You know, when you think back about.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Nil and the Obannon case, it really was all the
gloves are off on how people can directly help student athletes.
And there was a group called Hoards with Heart that
formed a five oh one C three and that.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Later became the Texas One Fund.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
And the idea behind it and that we still do
to this day, is having student athletes use their name,
image and likeness to promote other charities. And so far
we've I think it's the numbers like eighty five to
ninety charities around Central Texas and if you follow Texas
One Funm on social media, you'll see the posts from
(04:37):
athletes promoting habout at, Percumenity, mobil Oves and Fishes, Dell
Children's all these charities to raise awareness.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
So it really was.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Perceived at the time to how can we accomplish a
win win help these student athletes, help them with their
personal brands, get them in the community, get them meeting people,
promote who. One of the ideas was having promote sorties
and we've still done that as.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
This is more.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
You know, and grown. What we've tried to do is
also help them with getting corporate brand deals and that
was kind of you know, when Saban first talked about
in Ili talked about that. You see Quinn years on
a Doctor Pepper ad. Those are what are typically referred
(05:29):
to as true in IL deals and what the Texas
One Fund really our corporate side, what we're trying to
do is encourage businesses to meet, get to know kids,
and have them become ambassadors or representatives of their businesses,
which we've seen. There's been a lot of great connections
(05:51):
in that that we've seen, you know, all across Texas
and of course nationally. He had Maddy Skinner just doing
it deal with the first deal that Hgv's done, and
that you know, the reality is a lot of these
kids are such good ambossadors. And I always tell people,
(06:11):
you know, ten years ago, everybody you'd be worried about
seeing an athlete at Dirty's and paying for a meal
and all those you know, little NCAA rule intricacies that
are pretty much gone now and it really is a
time where the the alums, the fans, the boosters can
(06:31):
really get to know them, you know, apply for an indurnship,
get to know the mentorum and we're really there's a
win win here to bridge that gap.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
And Uh, you mentioned it, and I think it's important
to uh to mention it again. We talked about a
five oh one C three For folks you don't know
what that is. That's your avenue for tax deductible status
right there with the I R S by by being
involved in it in that fashion.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Correct. Yes, it is a five to one C three
public charity and you do get tax inductible status.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
And you may have seen Monday.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
It's taken a long time through the n C A
A and different avenues. That now any donation to the
Texas One funds not only taxa inductible. You also get
loyalty points through the Longhorn Foundation, which is a big
win and a lot of you know, our donors have
been asking for that for a long time and it's
finally here, which.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Is a good thing, no doubt about it.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Wheels spent on with us here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen under the Zone. Uh, talking about the Texas One Fund.
You have you have a great many Q and A
answers there on the website at Texas One Fund dot org.
For example, a question can I direct my contribution to
(07:50):
a particular sport? And the answer wheels is a resounding ass.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
So if you are a passionate fan of women's volleyball,
well you can donate directly to women's volleyball and those
funds will go to providing opportunities for student athletes and
women's volleyball. Likewise, you can do football, baseball, basketball, men's
and women's. You can do rowing, you can do every
sport that we have at U team. You can designate
(08:19):
a donation to or you can give to the General Fund,
which we meet each need. We can through that.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Yeah, and then I think it's important to point this
out as well. There's and again you answer the questions
on this, the frequently asked questions, the FAQs for example,
can I pause, cancel, or change my contribution, the answer
being yes. Do you get that? From time to time
some folks may start off with the General Fund and say, hey,
I'd really like to give something to baseball, or I'd
(08:48):
really like to give some of the saltball or something
like that.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yes, one hundred percent. And we've got such great.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Donors we're blessed to have.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
But a lot of times you see people say, you
know what, I really like that interview I saw from
a t or I happen to go and see the
men's and women's tennis program. I want to give to that.
And you'll have people just say I'm going to give
an additional little sum to these various sports. But yes,
it is very easy to change, and you see people,
(09:16):
but really the majority of things that we see are
people saying.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
You know what, I'm going to give to this, or
I liked what I saw.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
We won the national championship here and I'm going to
keep helping, or are do an additional donation to that sport.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
The other thing is.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
An FAQ And I think this is important for folks
to know. The question does Texas one fun control the
things that student athletes spend their money on? And the
answer is no. I mean, you guys don't direct any
of that specific spending, do you.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
No, we don't.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And I think it's important that everyone knows this. And
you've probably heard Sark say this. You know, when the
coaches recruit, they're not recruiting with inil at the forefront.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Obviously it's on everyone's mind.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
But Sark and really rt all our coaches recruit on
Texas and how important it is to be the flagship institution,
the great education, everything you get there, and then they'll say, oh,
by the way, we have a really good NIL program.
But with that they what Sark will say is when
(10:25):
you ask a kid about NIL, they really want three things.
One is the ability for their parents. We're recruiting nationwide
in a lot of sports worldwide, and they want the
ability to help their parents come see them play, whether
that's flying in or whatever. And NIL opportunities help that.
They also want to and again whenever the coach kind
(10:48):
of allows them to live off campus. As everybody probably
listening knows, the cost of living in Austin's pretty high
as opposed to other college towns and get an apartment,
that's what they're looking for. And then being able to
have transportation so ubers things like that. That's the majority
(11:10):
of what people the kids are spending and we don't
touch any of it. What we're trying to do this
year is try.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
To get where. We have a program with ORO.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Which is a couple of alums, the Sosa brothers, started
this years ago, which is a debit card facility that
they offered every student athlete at Texas and NIO opportunity
with what they have in that their platform is financial
literacy classes and really an educational tool to help these
(11:42):
kids establish Vegas accounts, establish good credit, and start to
educate them. And really that's as far.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
As we go.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
We're obviously never going to tell a kid here's what
you should do, but want we want to provide support
and UT does a good job of this too, to
counsel these kids with money. I know, Craig, you and
I when I was in college, I didn't have the
first clue about.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
What to do with money, and I didn't have much.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
So I think it's important when you're providing kids opportunities
to earn money, to also give them the bones of
an education of what they are, the tax complication, all
those things. Try to give them basics with that, and
we're also trying to bring mentors in to help them
(12:33):
with that.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
All right, I.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Got to ask you this question. I've been waiting to
ask you this question since the news came out last week.
What do you make of this Oklahoma state thing? With
the QR code sticker on the back of the helmet,
there is another avenue for nil.
Speaker 4 (12:51):
Hey listen, I sent it to the hell contact kind
of a joke, but it is fascinating when you're in
this space to see the creative way institutions, collectives, people
are thinking about this.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
I mean, it's it.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Is in so many ways the wild West, but the
creativity and the business ideas and the money raising ideas
have been off the charts. But yeah, Gundy, I mean,
you know, and that's that's on brand. I mean, I
thought it was hilarious. And the problem is, you know,
we started with some QR codes in the stadium and
when you get to be our age, you know, trying
(13:29):
to get out the phone and hit it on real time,
it can be a challenge for us.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
No doubt about it. It's Patrick smith Wiel says.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
We know him.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
He's the president of the Texas One Fund. Texas one
Fund dot org is where you can get a lot
more questions answered if you have any other and figure
out and see some other avenues how you can help
out and uh and uh and and assist the student athlete.
The University of Texas will is always great to visit
with you. Look forward to seeing you at the stadium.
I know you're a you're You're excited about it on Saturday,
(14:01):
aren't you.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
Yeah, Saturday is gonna be fun. It's a great night.
It really starts tonight the Taco Shag Bull in Central Texas.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
That's right, you're connected with Andrew.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
That's right. That's right, the voice of the t I
do my.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Poor Man's Craig Way every Thursday and Friday night. But
it really starts it. And then the game this Saturday.
I could not be more excited. And then of course
it's like last year we head up Dan Arbor. So
it's going to be a great start to this football season.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
Looking forward to it. Hey, Wals, thanks for the time, man,
have a good one. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
Craig, we share appreciate you and everything you do for
UT and then thank you you bet.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
That is Wels Patrick Smith, the President of the Texas
One fun and coming up next, we'll bring you our
first DJC law health update for the football team. We'll
do that and we'll hear from Rodney Terry longworn men's
basketball coach. Coming up on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred
zon in the iHeartRadio app