Last week, Michigan flipped five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood from LSU, with the help of millions of dollars in NIL (name, image, and likeness) money from the boosters at Champions Circle. The switch had been rumored for weeks, but it was still shocking when it actually arrived. That’s because the Wolverines have almost always lagged behind the SEC powers in recruiting, with a persistent perception that their wealthy alumni were not nearly as motivated as boosters of schools like Alabama and LSU.
One woman may be single-handedly changing that: Jolin.
The woman is such a mystery that her last name is not clear, nor is the nature of her connection to Michigan.
When Champions Circle—the NIL collective that secured the funding to pay Underwood—announced the move last week, the official statement thanked two people in particular.
“I want to personally thank Jolin and Larry Ellison who were instrumental in making this happen by providing Champions Circle with invaluable guidance and financial resources,” wrote Champions Circle founder Nate Forbes.
Champions Circle later deleted that statement and posted a new one with the name “Ellison” removed. The new statement merely referred to “Larry and his wife Jolin.” Several funders of the collective confirmed to Front Office Sports that the “Larry Ellison” mentioned in the initial statement was indeed Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison.
Ellison is worth more than $200 billion, mostly through his ownership of Oracle stock, making him one of the richest men alive. His involvement in Michigan football recruiting would have the potential to turn the Wolverines into a perennial title contender, a level of success they have struggled to reach before and after Jim Harbaugh. And it appears it’s all being sparked by one person.
Who Is Jolin?
Before the Underwood flip, Ellison was not known to be involved with a person named Jolin, nor known to have any ties to the University of Michigan. The 80-year-old Ellison has been married four times, and representatives for several of Ellison’s companies did not comment on whether he has quietly gotten married again.
Ellison has been photographed with a woman at several tennis matches—he owns the Indian Wells tournament—who was wearing a Michigan hat, though it is unclear if that woman is Jolin.
Michigan’s alumni office told FOS that no person named Jolin has ever graduated from the university. The name simply could be a nickname, an alias, a legal name change, or any number of other possibilities.
Many in the media have been searching for more information about Jolin, to little avail. In a discussion of the Ellison-Jolin-Michigan saga on CNBC’s Squawk Box this week, the veteran financial journalist David Faber said “we’re trying to confirm what the relationship is.”
The University of Michigan and various funders of Champions Circle did not answer questions from FOS about Jolin’s name, occupation, age, or where she lives.
A source close to the collective said Jolin and Larry made a “significant donation” to Michigan’s NIL efforts that predates the Underwood flip—a gift that has not previously been reported—and it was indeed Jolin, not Larry, who made the push that sealed Underwood.
The Champions Circle statement about Underwood called Jolin “a proud Michigan alum” and quoted her directly.
“I am a big fan of the University of Michigan and Michigan Athletics,” the statement quoted Jolin. “We are excited to support our student-athletes, so they can go compete at the highest level in college sports.”
In an email to FOS, Michigan backer and prolific sports investor Roger Ehrenberg said “Jolin is a Michigan alumna who is super passionate about the University of Michigan Athletics and was critical support for the recruitment effort.”
At least one person claims publicly to have met Jolin, and his recounting of the meeting gives several small clues to Jolin’s identity. That person is Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who has been involved in Michigan’s recruiting efforts in recent years, and claimed he would contribute up to $3 million for his alma mater to land a blue-chip quarterback.
On Tuesday, Portnoy gave his account of how Underwood’s recruitment played out. Though Portnoy has a track record of exaggerating, he is unquestionably a key player in Michigan’s NIL efforts. Much of his wealth stems from selling Barstool to a gambling company for $500 million in 2020; he bought the media company back last year after Barstool’s history caused licensing and legal issues for Penn, the gaming company.
Portnoy claims he met Larry Ellison and Jolin on a Zoom call, and he revealed several previously unreported details about Jolin’s identity. From Portnoy’s telling, it appears Jolin is a Michigan alum in her early 30s with two children who is in a relationship with Larry Ellison.
According to Portnoy, someone connected to the Michigan football team called him and said a woman was “a big fan” of his and wanted to discuss Michigan’s recruiting efforts, and that “her husband is a guy by the name of Larry Ellison.” Portnoy, Larry, and Jolin got on a Zoom call, and Jolin said she went to Michigan when Brady Hoke was the football coach, which would put her at the school some time between 2011 and 2014.
After an 11–2 first season, the Hoke teams struggled, going 20–18 over his final three years. Hoke was fired after a losing season in 2014 and replaced by Jim Harbaugh, who eventually won Michigan a national title last year before leaving for the NFL.
“I never want to live that era again,” Portnoy said Jolin told him. “I have two kids; I can’t stomach waking up on a Saturday knowing that we’re not the best team on the field.”
From there, according to Portnoy, he and the Ellison family connected with Underwood and sold him on the marketing and financial benefits of committing to Michigan. Portnoy, who admitted that “I love credit,” claimed Jolin’s involvement was spurred by his pledge to pay for an elite quarterback, and from there, the successful recruitment of Underwood snowballed. “I don’t need the credit,” Portnoy quoted Jolin saying. “I need national championships—I need to stack ’em.”
Portnoy did not mention Michigan alum Tom Brady, who reportedly called Underwood several times as the Wolverines tried to flip the 17-year-old quarterback.
The Barstool founder did not respond to several emails from FOS requesting comment.
Alex Schiffer contributed reporting.
