The University of Georgia Athletic Association said Thursday it received a $10 million donation from Adam Wexler to support men’s basketball, the largest single gift in school athletics history for the program.
UGA said the money will go into a general fund for personnel and operating expenses, with part of the commitment directed to the Athletic Director Excellence Fund. The announcement came as Georgia men’s basketball has been trying to build on back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and a school-record 22 wins.
Wexler, a 2007 UGA graduate who attended the Terry College of Business, founded Atlanta-based sports fantasy company PrizePicks and now serves as CEO of The Hidden Jams. In a release, he said the university has always meant a tremendous amount to him and his family, and pointed to his father’s connection to Georgia as a two-sport athlete who played alongside Fran Tarkenton and ran track under coach Spec Towns.
That family history helped frame a gift that UGA leaders see as more than a check. Wexler said watching his father’s lifelong connection to the university shaped his appreciation for what Georgia represents: opportunity, culture and excellence. He also said there had never been a more interesting time in the history of collegiate athletics for donors to make a difference and that he would love for this to be the start of something much bigger for the Bulldog community.
Athletic director Josh Brooks said the donation will leave a lasting impact. Coach Mike White said the gift will help the program keep reaching the standard it has set under his watch, noting that since arriving in Athens the focus has been growth and that the ultimate goal is to turn Georgia Basketball into a team that regularly competes at the highest levels. White has led Georgia to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, and the program’s four-year win total has surpassed any previous UGA men’s coach in school history.
The size of the donation gives Georgia a meaningful financial boost at a moment when college athletics is changing fast and programs are leaning harder on private support. For Wexler, the move ties a business success story back to the school that helped shape him, and for Georgia it arrives as the basketball program tries to turn recent progress into something durable.
