Robert Morris Basketball Unveils First-Ever Influencer Jersey Patch

MOON TWP, Pa. — Something as simple as a quick picture with a kid while out at dinner blossomed into something that the college athletics world has never seen before.

A few years back, Cullen Honohan, also known as All Hail Bball, a solo YouTube creator, was out to dinner with a friend near his apartment in the Strip District when a kid recognized him and asked him for a photo together. After taking the picture, the kid told Honohan that his father was the head coach of the Robert Morris men’s basketball team.

A few days later, that very same coach, Andy Toole, reached out to Honohan to thank him for taking the time out of his day to take the picture with his son. Ever since then, the relationship between Toole and Honohan grew stronger.

Up until a few months ago, it was nothing but friendly communication as Toole focused on winning games on the court and Honohan focused on capturing the eyes of young basketball fans across the nation.

That all changed when Stephen Morrison, an Associate Athletic Director at Robert Morris, reached out to Honohan with a business proposition. The idea that Morrison pitched to Honohan was a piece of content that was the “most creative idea” that Honohan could think of and something that “nobody has ever done before.”

After months going back-and-forth, that idea has turned into a never-seen-before influencer jersey sponsorship patch on Robert Morris’ jerseys YouTube series on Honohan’s All Hail Bball channel that will continue throughout Colonials’ 2026-27 season with the goal of making Toole’s program the most “viral” one in the nation.

The first episode of Honohan’s series debuted Sunday which showcased the moment that Robert Morris officials surprised him with his logo on a jersey.

“When I got to walk in there, they surprised me with it, you could see it in the video like I was actually like stunned,” Honohan told Robert Morris Sports Now. “I can’t believe it’s real and I’m so excited that we have the opportunity, to have the trust from a storied program like RMU to come in and really make a difference.”

All Hail Bball’s Cullen Honohan dons a Robert Morris jersey with his brand’s logo displayed on the front of it. — Photo Courtesy of Honohan

Not only is it first-of-its-kind sponsorship being the brand on the jersey is a social media influencer, it also is unique in the sense that Honohan is not paying Robert Morris any money at all for his logo to be on the jersey. Instead, both parties anticipate that the attendance and national notoriety of the program will increase exponentially due to the spotlight shined on the program through the online series.

Honohan’s goal is not only to help the program get new eyes on them and more butts into seats, but it is also to help it gain potential new season-long brand deals for the program and to help the players individually grow their brand which can result in more NIL deals. He says that with more eyes on them and increased visibility, bigger named brands, potentially some that Honohan has already worked with and built connections with, will be more open to working with a smaller program such as Robert Morris.

The other overarching goal is to get the city of Pittsburgh involved. That comes with some obstacles in itself as the city and the surrounding area is the homes of three Division-I men’s basketball programs including a power-conference program.

The way the Honohan plans to tackle that hurdle and possibly recruit some local college hoop fans over to Bobby Mo’s side is through creative events, special games, and much more that will be unveiled through future videos of the series.

“If our goal is to get people seats, we really gotta put on, Honohan said. “We really have to work in collaboration with the university to do things that nobody’s done before and we’ve got plans for some really cool activations for this season.”

Shortly after Robert Morris’ and Honohan’s announcement of the jersey patch and YouTube series, another content creation team, Snapback Sports, announced a jersey patch in collaboration with Sam Houston’s football team. The goal for both group of influencers is to not just help out the program that they are partnered with this season, but to help redefine and expand creators in the professional and collegiate space.

Depending on the success of the first two pioneer partnerships, the world of sponsorships in college athletics, especially at the lower level, can drastically change over the next handful of years.

“One thing that we wanted to do this year and really for the past few years is to redefine what the creator relationship with universities, with colleges and with pro teams look,” Honohan said. “You don’t get to see who these players actually are until they are in the pros but with a creator, I can come in and be on their level, be with them and document their journey along the way which is incredible so we get to hopefully inspire change and help that grow along with helping open the door for other creators that might want to do the same thing one day.”

All of Honohan’s short-term and long-term plans will begin to commence when Robert Morris takes the court for its season opener on Nov. 2, and regardless of the pressure and the vast of unknowns surrounding how well this venture will unfold, Honohan is grateful to have this opportunity with a storied and local program.

“[Robert Morris] is the last team in the city to have made the tournament,” Honohan said. “They have success overall as basketball program. They’ve beaten Blue Bloods in Kentucky and recently they’ve been the team in Pittsburgh that has done the most so we’re excited to get to be a part of that success.”