Illinois Athletics announced Wednesday morning a $20 million gift, where $15 million will go toward the soon-to-be completed Football Performance Center. The donation, from the H.D. Smith Foundation, will also include the naming of the center as the Henry Dale and Betty Smith Football Center.
It is the largest gift in the history of Illinois Athletics. For comparison, the Illini had already raised $25 million of their $30 million goal, but this pushes it far above that.
The gift also isn’t just for football. While $15 million goes toward the football center, there will also be scholarship opportunities for former student-athletes to return to the University, as well as a $2 million gift for the new Illinois Carle College of Medicine.