On April 2, 2026, Indiana Daily Student reporters Mia Hilkowitz, Nathan Shriberg, Savannah Slone, and Kasey Watkins won first place in the 2026 Drake Group Education Fund Student Journalism Prize for Investigative Reporting on Intercollegiate Athletics for their article "Could Big Ten schools use NIL deals to circumvent salary cap?"
In collaboration with the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism, the story investigates inconsistencies in various Big 10 universities' NIL disclosures, resulting in the lack of public awareness of just how much student athletes are being paid and why.
Every year, the Drake Group Education Fund awards the prizes to student journalists or a team of student journalists who showcase impressive journalistic practices when reporting on intercollegiate athletics. Such practices include asking complex questions, searching thoroughly for deeper meaning, and dedication to finding news stories that deserve greater public attention.
The Arnolt Center interns who contributed to the story include Mia Hilkowitz, Jacob Spudich, Ava Westendorf, Peyton Smith, Brian Gring, and Grace Bundy.
The panel of judges for the awards included numerous sports journalists and authors from a variety of notable publications including The New York Times, The Associated Press, NBCSport.com, and The Columbus Dispatch. The judges praised the project for its "professional-level methodological rigor, its ability to distill complex legal and financial structures into accessible reporting, and its unwavering commitment to institutional accountability and transparency for college athletes."
Included in the team's prize is a $1,000 honorarium and an all-expenses-paid trip to attend The Allen Sack National Symposium: Advancing Integrity in College Sport, held April 23, 2026, at Howard University’s Blackburn Center Ballroom in Washington, D.C., where the team of Hoosier journalists will accept their award.
