The Flutie Effect at Indiana State

Abstract

Indiana State University has recently had a surge of success in their men's basketball program, bringing attention to the school that it has never seen in the era of social media. This success has led to a massive increase in undergraduate applications to the school, a result from the spotlight being on the team all last season and new people wanting to experience it. This is called the Flutie effect and dates back to 1984 when Doug Flutie was a football player at Boston College. We will look at the origins of the first Flutie effect and how much it affected Boston College and some other examples of this phenomenon. We will also dive into how the transfer portal and NIL deals have impacted the Flutie Effect and how these factors make the effect prominent in much more than just one school. This includes talking about how athletic programs market their athletes during their rise to stardom and how NIL has made players into superstars overnight. Universities also use athletics initially as a lure to attract new students and this happens every year and not just when they are experiencing the Flutie Effect. This is a persistence that schools are looking for to where they can market their teams to new students based on past results and the culture that surrounds the program. Finally we take a look at how individual athletes have elevated a program and schools status as they become more popular by their on court play and their social media presence. This leads also into how the Flutie Effect impacts current students and its effect on incoming students who will have a completely different experience than their predecessors.