Alumni Unite to Elevate USD Athletics through the Olé Foundation
J.T. Rogan knows how it feels to score a touchdown. He reached the end zone a record 54 times as a University of San Diego football player from 2005-09. It’s one of eight career records Rogan set during his playing days.
But he also knew the other side of playing football at USD, a non-scholarship school where love of the game was vital. The struggle was real. Rogan had Pell Grants and took out loans, always doing what he could to continue playing football.
“One spring semester I worked, I was in a school play and I was a football player. I thought that’s as busy a spring as anyone could ever have. It was a struggle, but I always took on as much as I possibly could. My time at USD was incredible. The amount of growth I experienced was incomprehensible. I’m so thankful for my time, my connection and engagement with alumni. it’s the biggest blessing I could have ever imagined.”
That said, Rogan is back and he’s executive director of a project that could produce a truly pivotal score for USD athletics. He’s leading the alumni-driven nonprofit Olé Foundation to develop greater awareness among all 17 of USD’s sports programs, giving coaches a boost in recruiting and retaining top talent via the business of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL).
The rise of NIL in college athletics created the need for the Olé Foundation — and alumni are giving back.
Rogan ’08 (BBA) is joined by Allison Monette-Cordova ’07 (BA Communication Studies and Spanish) and Dominyck Bullard ’24 (BBA, Business Analytics) who are part of a six-person, all-alumni advisory board. Monette-Cordova and Bullard have created digital visibility with a website, social media platforms and an e-newsletter packed with current and alumni Torero Athletics news and updates and Q&As. Launched in May, the e-newsletter already has over 4,000 subscribers, according to Bullard.
Olé Foundation seeks to land agreements for Torero student-athletes through individual contributions, corporate sponsorships and networking. Operating under alumni stewardship, the foundation wants to support the community and uphold themselves to the university's mission, tradition and values.
“We want to be sure any service we perform is consistent with athletes, coaches and alumni who are giving back and are engaged. We’re open to important causes, charities who align with the university,” Rogan says. “We’ve got over 400 student-athletes. We want to maximize the win. We’re not just trying to check a box with service, we want to celebrate and create as much goodwill for people as possible.”
Rogan’s degree centered on business administration and management. His work life post-USD includes stints in sports communication roles, actively involved in community charity, mentoring, and youth sports as well as working with companies who showed him the NIL landscape from the ground up.
“Everyone stands to benefit from the greatness and growth of Torero Athletics,” Rogan says. “The current landscape requires NIL to be a pivotal part of that equation, so giving to the Olé Foundation for NIL is a gift to every person related to the USD community. It’s a great vehicle to support USD student-athletes. It’s winning on a lot of levels.”
Alumni involvement and leadership is an avenue to start winning.
When first introducing the Olé Foundation to the campus community and public, new Associate Vice President and Executive Director of Athletics, Kimya Massey, praised it as an asset and, especially, having the right people involved.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have a cohort of devoted alumni rallying behind our student-athletes,” Massey says. “The Olé Foundation is poised to set the standard for NIL initiatives within our athletic community.”
“No one is going to work harder for USD than USD alums,” says Rogan.
Monette-Cordova, a first-generation college graduate, didn’t play sports at USD. She received scholarship assistance to afford USD, but she’s made the most of it. Activities include a job as a telefunding caller, reporter for The Vista student newspaper, student government, studying abroad in France, and being Alpha Chi Omega sorority president her senior year. Academically, communication studies professors prepared her well as evidenced by post-graduation and award-winning roles in communications, marketing and public relations. Her networking skills were enhanced by a five-year stint as USD’s Las Vegas Alumni Chapter president. She founded and is CEO for Cordova Creative LLC, which focuses on brand development “telling a person’s story in the most innovative, cost-effective, and diverse way possible,” she explains.
Her big exposure to NIL came as vice president of marketing and communications for a start-up, Blueprint Sports. She developed go-to-market strategies for more than 20 collegiate NIL programs nationwide and managed a marketing portfolio for 25 national programs, including Penn State, UNLV, University of Arizona and Gonzaga.
Dominyck Bullard graduated from USD in May 2024. He initially came to USD to play baseball, but an injury cut his dream short just before he arrived. Nevertheless, he wasn’t deterred.
“Graduating from USD means everything to me,” Bullard says. “My whole life I saw USD as a place full of opportunities. I was inspired by my sister, Samantha, who graduated here in 2007 and she’s now a neuroradiologist. My brother-in-law, Matt, was a USD baseball player and did it because of (then head coach) Rich Hill’s willingness to give a walk-on player a chance. I wasn’t able to play at USD, but a bunch of amazing things happened. I was involved with the University Ministry, sang in the Sunday Night Mass choir, and I got into entrepreneurship.”
The latter highlight was winning $100,000 in the annual San Diego Angel Conference. He was the first USD student to win it, doing so with his company, Athletiverse. He uses NIL to connect athletes to businesses interested in investing in an easy-to-access way. Company clients include an NIL collective for USC and the U.S. National Bobsled and Skeleton Team.
Bullard credits on-campus resources such as The Brink’s Small Business Development Center for helping him with Athletiverse.
“The network I built there includes some of my best friends in personal and business spaces,” Bullard says. “It led me to this opportunity with the Olé Foundation and I’m excited to continue helping the university.”
The foundation’s other advisory board members are Charles Meyer ’03 (BA, Political Science and Government) and ’07 (JD), who is a lawyer and partner for Burger, Meyer and D’Angelo LLC and is a USD Alumni Board member; A former USD basketball walk-on player Mauricio Perez-Vazquez ’00, leads M Realty Group in San Diego. He’s also on the USD Alumni Board and Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate Advisory Committee. Gregg Clifton ’13 has a very successful track record in sports marketing and partnership development through companies such as Omaze, Fenway Sports Management and Wasserman. He launched his own advisory firm, CLIFTON, last year.
The Olé Foundation board has diverse experience, networking capabilities and delivers services and knowledge to be a solid support system for USD Athletics.
“I'm thrilled to see our alumni giving back to USD and fellow Toreros in this way,” Senior Director of Alumni Relations Director Eric Hafner says. “Support from alumni is a hallmark for our institution and allows us to provide our students with more opportunities to excel and succeed.”
There’s much work and excitement as the 2024-25 season begins. Rogan said to expect Olé Foundation representation at October’s Homecoming and Family Weekend; USD basketball games; a Nov. 4 inaugural golf tournament at Fairbanks Ranch; and attendance at the Nov. 16 Founders Gala at Petco Park.
“Our biggest first-year goal to reach students and alumni is having a high surface area for awareness,” Rogan says. “We want everyone to know about the Olé Foundation. If you go to a game, if you go to an event, if you're on social media, when you check email, we want to have a presence.”
More information about the Olé Foundation can be found at http://olefoundation.com.
— Story by Ryan Blystone