DeKALB — The third annual Victor E. Ball, NIU Athletics’ premier fundraising event, is set for Saturday at the Naperville Conference Center.

The event will include a panel discussion with Dan Hampton, Chicago Bears Pro Football Hall of Famer, Bill Buckner, 22-year MLB veteran and former Chicago Cub infielder and Bill Wennington, three-time NBA Champion with the Chicago Bulls.

Sean T. Frazier, associate vice president and director of athletics, said the Victor E. Ball was introduced to address recent financial issues with the university and the state of Illinois.

“There’s always a gap [of money] that financial aid doesn’t cover,” Frazier said. “That amount is permissible by the NCAA that institutions can now pay for that gap. Victor E. Ball was born out of the necessity for us to fund such a mandate.”

The event has raised upward of $175,000 in each of its first two years.

Proceeds for the Victor E. Ball go toward providing full cost of attendance scholarships to all student-athletes.

Revenue generated from the ball includes table purchases along with silent and live auctions. The silent auctions have already begun and have raised more than of $15,000, said Frazier. Bids can be placed at the NIU Athletics official website.

The event will also include live auctions for several different packages, such as sports memorabilia, trips to games with the football team, resort vacation packages and much more.

The cost of the event is $450 dollars for a single ticket and $3500 dollars to reserve a round table of 10, according to a Jan. 31 NIU Athletics press release. T.J. Feuerbach, senior associate athletic director for revenue generation, said attending the event is a unique opportunity to meet NIU personnel.

“Tables come with studentathletes and staff members,” Feuerbach said. “It’s really an opportunity for people to interact with our studentathletes, which is what this event is all about.”

The Victor E. Ball begins at 5:30 p.m. and bidding for the silent auction will close 7:30 p.m. Saturday.