The question was lobbed from the suit coat-clad crowd tucked neatly into the Pfahl Conference Center.

Seated on top of a makeshift stage on the second floor of the Blackwell Inn on Ohio State’s campus, football coach Ryan Day and men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann were participating in a question-and-answer session. Gazing into the crowd, host Cardale Jones pointed to the man who had a request. Around him, 27 packed tables to the tune of at least $500 a seat awaited either their chance to ask a question or to bid on live auction experiences.

This question, though, was intercepted by athletic director Gene Smith, seated near the front of the room. What else, the man asked, can fans do to better support The Foundation, Ohio State’s collective that helps Buckeyes capitalize on their name, image and likeness rights?

Smith had a quick response.

“I would encourage you to tell other people that it’s OK for anyone that you know or any business – and I don’t care how big or how small, whatever it is – let them know it’s OK,” Smith said. “I can give you countless examples of businesses we all know that started out uncomfortable and now they’ve gotten to a point where they actually are doing deals. In our space in Columbus, with all these corporations and businesses, we need to be as creative as we can and help our student-athletes get deals, small and big.”

It was a message that was on full display at Monday night’s fundraising gala. “The Kick-Off Event” was designed to help generate interest and money for The Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization launched last February and co-founded by real estate developer Brian Schottenstein and Jones. According to Smith, Ohio State has raised more than $3.6 million for 330 student-athletes with each deal has averaging around $2,900 spread across 1,200 deals for the athletic department. The Foundation is a part of this.

The era of asking boosters and the like to steer clear of student-athletes is long gone.

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In its place stands events like “The Kick-Off.” In addition to the opportunity to take photos with Day and Holtmann, attendees could mingle with members of their teams and bid on opportunities like dinner for four with Teradja Mitchell, Lathan Ransom and C.J. Hicks ($20,000) or Tanner Holden, Brice Sensabaugh and Bruce Thornton ($9,500) with proceeds benefitting both the players in question as well as other athletes at the university.

It’s a new space, and one Schottenstein and Smith praised Day and Holtmann for embracing.

“It was great, because I feel like that shows the appreciation of the NIL world and the way we affected it directly on their programs in the last 3-4 months,” Schottenstein said of their attendance. “I think that NIL is a forever-changing landscape. They’ve got to embrace the change, which I think they are. I think they show steps in that with coming here and supporting this event tonight knowing that this is eventually going to benefit their teams.”

Both coaches addressed the crowd individually before the question-and-answer portion. Holtmann went first, jokingly challenging quarterback C.J. Stroud and his teammates to a basketball game after the third-year Buckeye told reporters at Big Ten media that he thought five of his teammates could beat their men’s basketball counterparts in a game of five-on-five. Day spoke of his 12 players in attendance, and both programs showcased hype videos for either their upcoming season (basketball) or season opener against Notre Dame (football).

“If you're going to help our players, then we certainly want to be a part of that,” Day said. “This is different. This is new. I think you just got to get used to it. Each year brings on new challenges, and you have to be one to adapt, and we’re doing that. It's not easy, but we're blazing the path right way here and Gene's leading the way and doing things the right way."

No dollar amount was announced for the evening, but the 13 experiences that were up for bidding raised a combined $114,500 in addition to the cost of admission. Future events will be announced in time, Schottenstein said, and The Foundation is starting a South Florida chapter that will host a fundraising event this winter.

“I’ve been here four-plus years,” Holtmann said. “One thing I have really realized is this is a generous community and they love their sports. Obviously they love football, but they love their sports. They want great teams with great experience, great memories and they understand that there’s a new age of college athletics and there’s a role they can play in that.”

Per the NCAA, collectives like The Foundation are not allowed to directly impact recruiting efforts. Jones and Schottenstein were quick to point out that while they can’t control what other collectives do, they are following Smith’s directives and sticking to the letter of the law. It’s an admittedly gray area, one where recruits can meet with collectives but can’t officially sign deals until they’re on campus.

Holtmann said Smith has provided specific guidelines on how to navigate the NIL landscape. The coach acknowledged that other schools might be working from a different viewpoint but that “the reality is that’s not the expectation for us here.”

Schottenstein pointed to the most recruiting numbers to prove that the Ohio State approach is working: the Buckeyes have top-five football classes for both 2022 and 2023 and corresponding top-10 classes for men’s basketball.

“It’s really nice to see coach Holtmann, coach Day and Gene Smith all here supporting The Foundation,” Schottenstein said. “The fact that you have them here shows they know how important we are to the program, both football and basketball. We have the top five basketball and football recruiting classes right now so we’re obviously doing something right at The Foundation and all the coaches are behind the programs.”

So, too, are the boosters with deep pockets.

Dispatch reporter Joey Kaufman contributed to this report.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Day, Holtmann embrace change at The Foundation's gala