Ryan Dunleavy

Staff writer

PISCATAWAY - Rutgers supporters can now put their money where their mouth is.

Rutgers and Medifast – a weight-loss program headed by CEO and former Rutgers basketball player Mike MacDonald – announced an innovative partnership on a newly developed line of sports nutrition bars and ready-to-drink shakes privately labeled for the university.

A portion of the proceeds from consumer sales of Dual Fuel products will benefit the R Fund, the athletic department’s fundraising initiative.

“It’s going to be very exciting to see Rutgers have its own brand of ‘R’ bars and ‘R’ shakes available for the athletes, students and alumni,” MacDonald told Gannett New Jersey.

“Every time they buy one, money goes back to university. Rutgers has a great need to do things to compete in the Big Ten going forward.”

Christie signs bill giving $25M in tax credits to Rutgers

In addition to fueling student-athletes, the product launch represents Rutgers teaming up with one of its most notable CEO alums in a fundraising capacity. Such connections are one area where Rutgers athletics lags behind its Big Ten peers.

MacDonald attended Rutgers from 1971-75 and was part of two men’s basketball teams that reached the postseason. He served on the Rutgers board of trustees from 1990-2000 and has been a longtime personal supporter of athletics, though the professional venture is new ground.

“I had people at Rutgers who made a great impact on my life from an example standpoint,” MacDonald said, pointing to former coaches Bill Foster, Tom Young and Dick Lloyd. “I think alumni should try to give back to an institution, which has given so much to other people.

“Sometimes, too many people look at the wins and losses when judging the university. Rutgers is a great university and has tremendous potential, and it’s a university that has under-invested.

“We’ve invested well in football, but I think in other sports we need to invest more. There is no reason alumni can’t look at Rutgers and say it should be the Stanford or Northwestern of the Big Ten, and be a very competitive program that continues its great academic reputation.”

Hobbs hits the ground running on Rutgers facilities

Dual Fuel products are available at Rutgers.DualFuelNutrition.com and concessions stands at the Rutgers Athletic Center and High Point Solution Stadium, with additional distribution planned.

They were developed by Medifast in conjunction with Rutgers athletics, trainers and conditioning team over the course of the last eight months, according to MacDonald.

Dual Fuel bars are available in two flavors and contain 150 calories and three grams of sugar, which is less than competing products, MacDonald said. The soon-to-be-available companion shakes will come in two flavors and contain 18 grams of protein.

“We saw a natural extension to move to the sports nutrition area as something that would be a benefit to our consumer base,” MacDonald said. “I said, ‘Who better than a major university like Rutgers, in the Big Ten, where I played?’

"Very few companies do private labeling. We’re saying we really care about building a Rutgers-branded product."

Rutgers to name court after Jim Valvano

Medifast, which Forbes listed as having a market capitalization of $405 million in 2014, has more than 90 diet products available. In that marketplace, the key is not to sacrifice taste.

“It really came out of us going to Rutgers and saying, ‘Would you like to work with us? We’d really like to develop NCAA-compliant sports and nutrition products,’” MacDonald said.

“We are making sure we are talking to the athletes to find out what they want from a taste standpoint. One thing you will find in this area is certain products don’t taste very good.”

Medifast also struck a similar deal on similar products with the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research. Namesake Jim Valvano is a former Rutgers basketball co-captain.

MacDonald briefly coached with Valvano at Iona before beginning his business career. He is a board member of the Jimmy V Foundation.

Former Rutgers basketball coach Bill Foster dies

“Medifast is not a sports brand. We’re a quick weight-loss company,” MacDonald said. “We are going to do a partnership with the Jimmy V Foundation, which will be a great benefit to giving money to cancer. This is a great opportunity with two great brands – the Jimmy V brand and the Rutgers brand – to get us into the sports nutrition area.”

MacDonald’s wife was a secretary for Young, the former Rutgers basketball coaching great, his son Ryan is a former standout Rutgers golfer and his son-in-law is former Rutgers quarterback Anthony Cali.

“I think Rutgers is making progress in a lot of areas,” MacDonald said. “It was a tough time. We had to get past a few scandals. I think they have good people in place. I think they are positioned well for the future.”

Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy@gannettnj.com