Greetings From The Krewe

[kreweallons]

Good morning Cajuns fans. Want to thank the moderators of this page for getting me set up with an account and Dave Amato for pushing me through.

Just a brief introduction, my name is John Aiken and I have been a Collegiate Basketball Coach for the last 15 years. When I was let go in March at McNeese I began to consider what could be next for me in my journey. My daughter was ready to start 8th grade at the only school she has spent full consecutive years, 6 schools in total. I felt like I had to stay close for her.

So I launched an event planning company. Initially my goal was to take that and put on events at different universities, so I signed up Southern Miss and UL. However my vision quickly began to change as I talked more and more with leadership at UL. I could see the need for a collective and for someone driving the NIL initiative for all athletics. So I began to pivot, while executing the event at Southern Miss, my mind and energy saw a drastic shift to here in Lafayette.

So here I am, a foreigner in Cajun land, trying to build something badly needed from the ground level. My only desire is to help coaches win and help players have an incredible experience while helping us to retain the ones we develop. I'm an open book. The collective is being spearheaded by me, but boasts an advisory board of UL alums both athletic and otherwise. I believe as we roll out more and more, you will begin to see NIL differently and hopefully we can create a robust collective to enhance the Ragin' Cajuns experience. I'll be out at the Tailgate today. We still have room for about 3-4 more tables at our event on Thursday. Join the Krewe. Ask questions. Spread the word. But most importantly let's beat these Bobcats today!!

Allons!

[CajunVic]

. . . how can one not love this guy . . . remember, nothing really works unless someone has skin in the game . . . go get’m . . .

[BeauCajun]

Nice to meet you yesterday afternoon John. Sorry I couldn’t stay too long. Good luck with the Krewe and we look forward to other events. Please keep us informed on Ragin’ Pagin’.

[Turbine]

Welcome, John Aiken

[Cajunsmike]

Good morning Cajuns fans. Want to thank the moderators of this page for getting me set up with an account and Dave Amato for pushing me through.

Just a brief introduction, my name is John Aiken and I have been a Collegiate Basketball Coach for the last 15 years. When I was let go in March at McNeese I began to consider what could be next for me in my journey. My daughter was ready to start 8th grade at the only school she has spent full consecutive years, 6 schools in total. I felt like I had to stay close for her.

So I launched an event planning company. Initially my goal was to take that and put on events at different universities, so I signed up Southern Miss and UL. However my vision quickly began to change as I talked more and more with leadership at UL. I could see the need for a collective and for someone driving the NIL initiative for all athletics. So I began to pivot, while executing the event at Southern Miss, my mind and energy saw a drastic shift to here in Lafayette.

So here I am, a foreigner in Cajun land, trying to build something badly needed from the ground level. My only desire is to help coaches win and help players have an incredible experience while helping us to retain the ones we develop. I'm an open book. The collective is being spearheaded by me, but boasts an advisory board of UL alums both athletic and otherwise. I believe as we roll out more and more, you will begin to see NIL differently and hopefully we can create a robust collective to enhance the Ragin' Cajuns experience. I'll be out at the Tailgate today. We still have room for about 3-4 more tables at our event on Thursday. Join the Krewe. Ask questions. Spread the word. But most importantly let's beat these Bobcats today!!

Allons!

Love hearing your interviews John. I understand you had to honor your commitment to USM. However you are wise to focus your efforts on strictly the Cajuns going forward. It will be a negative if it is discovered you are doing ANY work for other programs at this time.

[JamesTheJeweler]

Love hearing your interviews John. I understand you had to honor your commitment to USM. However you are wise to focus your efforts on strictly the Cajuns going forward. It will be a negative if it is discovered you are doing ANY work for other programs at this time.

What????

[RaginDave]

I encourage everyone to meet John. He is a very good guy and is committed to us for this collective.

[JamesTheJeweler]

Thank you so much, John, for your commitment to the university. Your efforts are greatly needed and appreciated.

[Million$Mullet]

I encourage everyone to meet John. He is a very good guy and is committed to us for this collective.

And he had on a pretty cool Zeon shirt yesterday.

[levetsj]

https://kreweallons.com/

[RedTails]

Man, could fully lean into this "Krewe" idea and have a Mardi Gras Ball that's also a fundraiser. That'd be a good time. Think a lot more people would buy into the idea of joining a Krewe in the traditional sense if there was a Mardi Gras Ball they could attend with fellow alums/fans that are uneasy about NIL.

And if the Krewe is loosely affiliated with the University/Athletic Dept, could use indoor practice facility or another facility for a lower cost event space. I'd join for that for sure.

It would be a lot easier to pitch the Krewe to my friends as access to a University-affiliated Mardi Gras Ball than a collective for NIL.

[kreweallons]

I like the way you think...

[CajunVic]

. . . every Krewe has to have a ball . . .

[kreweallons]

Absolutely, it's on the agenda... will be working to make the ball a reality!

[RedTails]

Absolutely, it's on the agenda... will be working to make the ball a reality!

Awesome!