The "big donor" at Marquette is a man named Dick Strong. He used to own a mutual fund and brokerage firm until Spitzer nailed him for market timing and late trading.
He is barred from investment advisory by the SEC for life. But, he's still worth well north of $500M.
His nemesis is a man who used to work with him, who is an equally wealthy Bucky alumni and booster.
Dick used to use his firm as a mechanism to pay Tom Crean $100Ks a year for merely showing up on site and giving pep talks to the staff.
This man is/was capable of a great deal of influence.
It took an opportunity like IU to get Crean. I doubt anyone outside of a historic top 20 program will get Buzz.