Tennessee athletes to raise money for scholarship honoring fallen Tennessee soldier as part of NIL deal

Some great opportunities have come about since the NCAA allowed athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness this summer. Tennessee athletes are taking part in one of the coolest yet.

Tennessee is partnering with Spyre Sports Group to help raise money for the Afghan 13 SSG Ryan Christian Knauss Memorial Scholarship, Tennessee fan Will McNeeley tweeted Thursday. Knauss, 23, was one of 13 U.S. soldiers killed in the Kabul Airport attack in August. After his death, Tennessee renamed the Veterans Memorial Graduate Business Scholarship as the Afghan 13-SSG Ryan Christian Knauss Memorial Scholarship in his memory.

Three Volunteers athletes — football player Navy Shuler and baseball players Redmond Walsh and Will Mabrey — are helping lead the effort.

“This scholarship was created with the guidance of Steve Hamer, Assistant Director of Development with the Tennessee Fund, and Jerry Hanner, Director of Development with the Haslam School of Business, at the University of Tennessee,” McNeeley wrote on the GiveSendGo page for the scholarship. “100% of the funds raised will be donated to University of Tennessee. Once the scholarship has eclipsed $25,000, it will then qualify for the dollar for dollar match at the Haslam School of Business at the University of Tennessee. 

The scholarship will go to an individual who attends the Haslam School of Business for graduate school and is either active duty in the military or someone coming from a service academy, such as the Naval Academy.

Knauss was a Tennessee native and joined the Army out of high school. He grew up in Corryton, which is near Knoxville, and McNeeley sent some tweets asking for Tennessee to take a permanent seat at Neyland Stadium for Knauss after his death.

“Hey @AD_DannyWhite – how much money do I need to raise to permanently buy a seat at Neyland to honor Staff Sargent Ryan Knauss?” McNeeley tweeted in September.

The goal is to raise $40,000 for the Afghan 13 SSG Ryan Christian Knauss Memorial Scholarship.