John Fulkerson to Give Back to Tennessee Fund With NIL Earnings

Fulkerson said the following regarding his new deal.

"My time as a Tennessee student-athlete has been life-changing and everything I could have asked for. This year, I've been very blessed to capitalize on some great NIL opportunities. And those opportunities would have never been possible without the amazing support I've received over the last five-plus years from so many people across the athletics department and campus." 

Fulkerson added, "This is my way of giving back and saying, 'thank you,' for the incredible support I've received as a Tennessee student-athlete for all these years."

With Kennedy Chandler now on the roster, and Tennessee showing its offensive upside in dropping 103 against Lenoir Rhyne in an exhibition, several dollars have a chance of being raised this season. 

"I hope we lead the nation in scoring," Fulkerson said. "I wanted to base my gift off something related to our team's performance and not my own. Hopefully, this will create another fun reason for Vol Nation to cheer for us to score a ton of points."

Athletic Director Danny White spoke on Fulkerson's idea showing what kind of person the VFL is.

"This is the first instance I know of where a student-athlete proactively initiated a philanthropic gift to his or her school while they were still actively competing," White said. "John's a special guy who represents everything great about intercollegiate athletics and exemplifies the Volunteer Spirit."

The Kingsport native returns to UT for his second year as a college graduate on track to break Tennessee's record for most games played, 11 behind VFL Wayne Chism's record of 142. In addition, the preseason All-SEC first-teamer needs just 125 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone. 

Tennessee plays UT Martin Tuesday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m. ET in Thompson-Boling Arena for their season opener. The game will air on SEC Network.