Ex-Bulldog donates $10 million to Fresno State

Money will bolster facilities, scholarships for athletes.

Published online on Monday, Jun. 22, 2009

Fresno State athletics received a record donation Tuesday from a newcomer to philanthropy who gave few details about the source of his bounty.

The $10 million pledge from former Bulldogs football player Alphonso Bigelow will help fund the university's master plan for facilities and for athletic scholarships.

Athletic director Thomas Boeh announced the donation from Nykel Bam International LLC, a little-known Clovis-based commodities brokerage firm created by Bigelow last year.

The pledge will fund $8 million in capital improvements for a proposed "Athletics Mall," and provide $2 million toward athletic scholarships.

Bigelow said the $10 million pledge will be paid over a 5-year span with quarterly payments starting July 1.

"This will truly transform our athletic program for years to come," university President John Welty said.

Bigelow, a 1996 graduate who majored in business, said he wanted to give back to the school and community that meant so much to him. He played linebacker for former coach Jim Sweeney, who described Bigelow as "an upbeat guy who set the pace in the weight room. ... He just never fulfilled his potential" because of injuries.

"I feel a sense of family here. I understand the student-athlete experience," said Bigelow, who met his wife, Kristi, at Fresno State, where she was on the dance team. "Some of the friends I made and my mentors are my best friends today. Not only will this gift enhance recruiting, but it will help the community as a whole."

Bigelow stumbled into the brokerage business after a failed venture three years ago. He was running group homes in Fresno at the time and said he was in Hong Kong working on a private gold transaction that eventually fell through.

But while there, Bigelow said he befriended a man from London who became his mentor. The man, who Bigelow declined to name, introduced him to people involved in commodities trading. Among those were his future partners, whom he also declined to name.

Bigelow returned home and established, with his five partners, Nykel Bam International in 2008. Bigelow also is listed as president of a company called FB Capital Ventures Inc., of Clovis. He also is former president of Eminence Healthcare Inc., which owns rehab centers in Fresno, and Paragon Group Home Inc. of Fresno.

Bigelow said Nykel Bam makes about $13 million a year. He said the company earns commissions off its transactions, and that he and his partners want to donate most of the profits to charity.

"We're not in the business of profiting and becoming multibillionaires," he said. "My experience is humanitarian-based. I used to own group homes. It's not about the money. Our goal is to give away 80%. As long as we can still make a great living and survive, that's our ultimate goal."

Fresno State officials, without going into details, said they were comfortable with the pledge.

"We had several conversations with them and became very confident [Bigelow] and his company could fulfill the commitment," said Danny White, Fresno State's associate athletic director for development.

With this latest record pledge, Fresno State athletics has received almost $14 million in donations over the past year.

Last August, former Bulldogs athletes Cory Hall and Terance Frazier donated $100,000 apiece to support the athletic department's operating budget. A month later, Tachi Palace pledged $1.5 million over six years to the Bulldog Foundation. And in December, the Meyers Farm Family Trust gave $2 million toward the school's sports medicine center and a lounge for athletes.