if we have, what I'm going to go ahead and call, a "Khalen Effect" with our football program. His draft, and hopefully NFL impact, will bring a ton of notoriety to our football program. How will this impact, 1) Recruiting. 2) Alumni/Booster Funding. 3) Overall marketing of the Program.
1) Recruiting- This should give us a HUGE lift in Kansas City. The KC area sends 5-10 kids a year to NDSU, the SD schools and UNI. And, the last couple classes, to Missouri St. I'd love to see more of the kids looking at WIU. The local kids seeing Khalen doing his thing at Arrowhead should help. KC is Chiefs CRAZY! With him being a StL kid, hopefully this will help there as well. Lot's of D1 talent in StL every year. And an easy 2 hr drive to Macomb.
2) Alumni/Booster Funding- Brian Spotts has already done a great job, along with Coach Elliott, of organizing the Football Alumni. Hopefully this helps him continue that en-devour. I hear all the time about the "Glory" days of WIU football. Seeing Khalen in the NFL will hopefully stir up some of the memories from other Alums, which will lead to increased attendance and LC memberships.
3) Marketing- Still waiting to see what Danielle will do with the interim tag removed from her title. They have already done some small things, hopefully they continue to grow their marketing presence using Khalen's success. Lot's of possibilities there!
Going to be so much fun to watch what happens over the next few years!
Interested to see...
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Western_101
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Interesting points. We didn't see a "Jason Williams" effect a decade ago when he was the number "one"all around draft pick of/for the Dallas Cowboys.
True, but Dallas is a much bigger market than KC and we don't heavily recruit there. If Saunders does well and is able to really make a name for himself on the team and in the community, he could be a much more recognizable name in KC than Williams was in Dallas.
Scott Lawson - Board AdminWestern Illinois University Alum/Fan/Employee
Member of the Marching Leathernecks - 1996-2000
True, but I think Khalen's "marketability" is already miles ahead of what Jason's was. People LOVE this guy - from his backflips to his becoming a father while he was at the Senior Bowl, I doubt many (if any) people who are into football and the draft have not seen video showcasing what a likeable guy he is. He is the guy you see being as the one you'd like to hang with because he's so much fun. Can't beat impressions like that, I don't think.