Tulane athletics receives $3.5 million gift ahead of new NIL | Tulane

Less than a week after announcing a major shift to in-house name, image and likeness fundraising, Tulane athletics received a timely $3.5 million gift from longtime supporters Don and Lora Peters on Monday.

The money, aimed partly toward facility upgrades, also serves as the launching point for the Green Wave Talent Fund, which will replace an outside collective as the source for NIL opportunities when a rule permitting direct involvement of universities in paying players goes into effect on July 1.

“We don’t have to be in the position where we can outspend everyone,” Tulane athletic director David Harris said. “At the same time you know that you have be in a position where what you are providing is competitive in combination with the other things you bring to the table.”

The huge donation could go a long way toward alleviating concerns about the takeover from Fear the Wave, the widely popular NIL collective that was formed at the end of 2021 by Tulane alumni Michael Arata and Kelly Comarda. Their volunteer work raising money was instrumental in Tulane’s success in football after its American Athletic Conference championship and Cotton Bowl victory against USC during the 2022 season.

In the NIL era, the Wave backed up that title with its second and third consecutive league title game appearances in 2023 and 2024, the latter of which came after the highly sought after Jon Sumrall seamlessly replaced Willie Fritz as coach when Fritz left for Houston.

Fear the Wave was largely a two-man operation, with Jimmy Ordeneaux joining Arata after Comarda briefly joined Fritz at Houston before returning to work for Sumrall as essentially a salary cap adviser for football only. The in-house takeover will allow Tulane to use more people to raise NIL revenue.

“For us, it was about being in position to bring the full resources of the department and the university to bear on making sure we can do a great job in that area,” Harris said. “We are going to be forever indebted to Michael and Jimmy and people like Kelly Comarda, who just did a phenomenal job. Now that we’re in a position where it doesn’t have to be done outside the department, we felt like this was the right time to make this transition and to build on the foundation Fear the Wave set and bring in more money and be able to win more championships. This is certainly an all-hands-on-deck type of initiative for us.”

Fear the Wave will continue in its current role until July 1, when it will shift to provide only behind-the-scenes support. Responding to supporters’ nervousness about the reduced role, Arata urged everyone who contributed to the collective to support the Green Wave Talent Fund with the same intensity.

“I was blown away by the support of Green Wave Nation and believe there is still a vast untapped reservoir of fans out there that want to see Tulane remain at the top of college athletics,” he said in a news release. “But wanting and wishing won’t do it. It takes work, and I know the athletics department is prepared to do what it takes to win. I am thrilled for the players and coaches and am going to support this with everything we have.”

With NIL playing a crucial role in recruiting and retaining players, Tulane has more than held its own. USA Today ranked every college football team for 2025 after spring drills and listed Tulane first in the American Athletic Conference despite the Wave returning just five starters — a testament to Sumrall’s work in the transfer portal.

Basketball coach Ron Hunter lost starters Kam Williams (Kentucky) and Kaleb Banks (DePaul) after finishing fourth in the AAC, but he retained All-AAC point guard Rowan Brumbaugh along with starters Gregg Glenn and Asher Woods, and has added four players from the portal as he tries to build a championship team.

As part of the sea change, football rosters likely will be limited to 105 after a House vs. NCAA settlement on revenue sharing that is expected to be approved later this month. Harris said Tulane would not raise its scholarship total past the current maximum of 85, leaving room for 20 walk-ons if the cap goes into effect immediately rather than being kicked into the future.

He left more wiggle room in baseball, which currently divides 11.7 scholarships. If the proposal of a 34-player roster limit with no restriction on scholarships goes into effect, the pressure to increase that total would be significant.

“We’ve had conversations with (baseball coach) Jay (Uhlman) about his desires,” Harris said. “We’re certainly going to do everything we can to try to address what he feels is necessary in order for us to field a competitive team.”