Indiana University’s men’s rugby program has hired a full-time director of rugby and a new full-time men’s 15s head coach as a new endowment initiative is building speed.

Evan Kaufman heads up a group of IU rugby alumni that has been working to create an endowment and bring in funding and support from former Indiana rugby players. The most famous of those alumni is celebrity businessman and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has been a significant financial supporter of Indiana Rugby for quite some time. However, said Kaufman, no one wanted Cuban to bear the financial burden alone. Cuban has committed to matching every dollar raised for the endowment through other donations. This month the IU Rugby Endowment topped $1 million as a result.

“Mark Cuban has been our biggest benefactor, but we’ve changed the culture of alumni participation,” Kaufman said. “He has done amazing things for us, but this is a team that’s been around for 55 years, and we knew that there were many folks who hadn’t even in touch, and no one had ever asked them to contribute. We’ve had to be systematic about that, and they’ve responded.”

With some money in the bank, IU Rugby has now hired former USA men’s national team player David Fee as the director of rugby. Fee, who played wing for the USA 15s team and also played for the USA in sevens, will oversee all programs and operations, and also coach sevens as well as the backs. The head coach in 15s will be Justin Goonan, who was head coach at Spring Hill College.

Entertaining Plate final at @USARugby 7s Championships. @arizonarugby over @IURugby Great contest. Coach David Fee urging his Hoosiers at halftime. ???? pic.twitter.com/WtH7aKMzK4

— Tony Ridnell (@tonyridnell) May 20, 2018

“IU has a strong rugby tradition, heavily involved alumni and parents, and a hotbed of HS and youth talent surrounding them,” said Fee in a statement. “The opportunity, the program, the timing, the ability to have a two-headed monster with Justin, all just came together for a great fit and [I] am excited to be a part of it.”

Former coach Sopa Enari was given plenty of credit from Fee for what he has built, and, said Fee, his 20 years of service “is an excellent foundation.”

And indeed, Indiana has won multiple Big Ten titles and competed against top programs that have paid coaches and financial assistance for the players while remaining a club team. In 2016-17, Indiana center Bryce Campbell earned the Rudy Scholz Award as the top men’s college player in the country. Campbell went on to become a regular USA national team player, but even without him, IU won the Big Ten last fall.

“We’ve been a top-ranked team and we’ve got a great rugby tradition and a very successful team on campus despite being a club program,” Kaufman said. “Now we have added motivated, humble, hungry folks at the helm.”

Kaufman said recruiting will be a big part of what the coaches have to do—most of that will be letting players know that Indiana is a program on the rise. 

Goonan joins IU from Dartmouth, where he was the assistant coach and strength and conditioning coach. Before that he was head coach at Spring Hill, a varsity program in Alabama, and Wake Forest before that. 

“I firmly believe IU can join the elite programs in the country,” Goonan said. “And the Big Ten brand is something we look to build and grow.”