Ball State alumnus Jason Whitlock isn’t sure if he will make the trip to DeKalb, Ill., on Wednesday to see Ball State play Northern Illinois University.
What the ESPN sportswriter is sure of, though, is Ball State alumni need to do their part to support the university — even if that support doesn’t garnish the same level of attention that he and the family of Brady Hoke generated this week.
By donating $5,000 each, the pairing helped fund a bus trip for 240 students to Wednesday’s game. The big donations received national coverage, but Whitlock said even smaller contributions are significant.
“I think it’s very important that all [alumni], regardless of what level — you don’t have to sponsor bus trips, you can give $50, $100 — I think all alumni have a responsibility to support our university,” Whitlock said.
The bus trip will charter students to a mid-week matchup likely to decide the Mid-American Conference’s West champion. The Huskies are 9-0 overall with a 5-0 mark in conference play.
Senior quarterback Keith Wenning and the high-powered Ball State offense have achieved a 9-1 record, going 6-0 in the MAC this season. In early October, Ball State defeated Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Virginia 48-27.
That is when Whitlock realized the team had serious potential and thoughts of sending students to Northern Illinois started swirling. He sent about 10 students to the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl last season, and Whitlock said he wanted to something special again for this game.
“I think Pete Lembo has done a marvelous job building the depth of the program,” he said. “I think if we get any kind of quarterback play next year, we’ll be good again.
“I hope it’s going to inspire a lot of [alumni] to take pride in Ball State [and] give back some money to help support the entire university, but the athletic department in particular.”
The 1990 Ball State graduate and two-year letter winner for the Ball State football team reached out to Laura Hoke to see if she and her husband, Brady, would be interested in helping fund this bus trip, as well.
He knew the Hoke family had long been proud of its ties to Ball State. They both graduated from Ball State. He graduated in 1980 and went on to become head coach of the Ball State football team from 2003–2008 then became the head coach of the University of Michigan.
Less than a day later, Whitlock had a response from her saying they’d love to help. The pieces fell into place and with additional funding from the athletic department, the bus trip was set.
Still though, Whitlock is up in the air as to whether or not he will attend the game. It’s quite a trip, and the ESPN coverage will make it convenient to watch from home.
He doesn’t want any part of the press box, anyway.
“I’m going to be pretty emotional,” Whitlock said. “If I sit up in the press box, I’d have to contain my emotions.”
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