NIL

Are Gonzaga and the Big East the big winners from the NCAA’s new revenue sharing rules?

Excuse St. John’s athletic director Ed Kull if he’s highly skeptical of the suggestion that the Big East is poised to become men’s college basketball’s big-budget bully. Kull can’t fathom a scenario where the sport’s deep-pocketed traditional powers allow Big East programs to outspend them for top-tier talent. Advertisement “Unless you’re telling me their collectives […]

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1 month ago

June 11, 2025

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Excuse St. John’s athletic director Ed Kull if he’s highly skeptical of the suggestion that the Big East is poised to become men’s college basketball’s big-budget bully.

Kull can’t fathom a scenario where the sport’s deep-pocketed traditional powers allow Big East programs to outspend them for top-tier talent.

“Unless you’re telling me their collectives are all folding and shutting down, I can’t see how that’s going to happen,” Kull told Yahoo Sports.

The idea that Big East basketball is among the big winners from last Friday’s House vs. NCAA settlement stems from the structure of college sports’ new revenue-sharing rules. Schools can directly distribute a pool of up to $20.5 million to athletes in year 1 (July 2025 to June ‘26) and can give out even more money subsequently as the annual cap escalates.

SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC schools are preparing to spend most of this year’s sum on football in an effort to remain competitive in the sport that rakes in the most money and bankrolls the rest of an athletic department. The University of Georgia earlier this year revealed that football players will receive 75% of the available money, compared to 15% for men’s basketball, 5% for women’s basketball and 5% for the school’s remaining teams. Texas Tech has previously earmarked 74% to football. Other power-conference football programs are expected to gobble up 70 to 80%.

Those projections leave most Power Four men’s basketball programs with pools of about $2 to $4 million to pay their players. Schools with richer tradition in basketball than football — a Kansas, Kentucky, Duke or North Carolina for example — could conceivably exceed that and distribute up to $5 million to men’s basketball players in an effort to stay ahead of the competition.

The calculus is very different for schools who don’t have to feed the football beast, schools that either don’t have FBS football programs or don’t have realistic aspirations of competing for titles at that level. Big East schools, as the theory goes, can invest heavily in basketball with however much cash they can raise. In the Big East, only UConn has an FBS football program. Butler, Georgetown and Villanova compete in football at the FCS level.

“Basketball is in fact our priority sport here, so that’s where the money’s going first,” Big East commissioner Val Ackerman told Yahoo Sports.

“We’re lucky that all our members are focused on one sport,” Kull added.

The same goes for Gonzaga, perennially men’s college basketball’s best program that doesn’t hail from a power conference. Gonzaga athletic director Chris Standiford acknowledged the “structural advantage” of Gonzaga being able to distribute a higher percentage of its revenue sharing pool to men’s basketball players, but he also deemed the idea that the Zags could now outspend SEC and Big Ten programs a “false narrative.”

Whereas schools from the Power Four conferences are all gearing up to pay their athletes the maximum $20.5 million they’re allowed to, neither the Big East schools nor Gonzaga are likely to even approach that cap figure. They may not have the financial burden of football, but they also don’t have the revenue that comes from massive football media rights deals, sponsorships and ticket sales.

How close to the $20.5 million cap will Big East schools get? There are Big East schools “approaching half,” one source told Yahoo Sports. Another source estimated that Big East schools will ultimately pay athletes anywhere from $7 million to $12 million in revenue-share money, with the majority going to men’s basketball. Both sources noted that Big East schools are raising this money through pleas for alumni donations and corporate sponsorships.They can’t simply rely on existing revenue streams.

Standiford declined to estimate how much Gonzaga will pay men’s basketball players, but he made it clear that without the benefit of football revenue, the Zags also won’t come close to the $20.5 million mark. Gonzaga, Standiford said, is “committed to being competitive.” That doesn’t mean always being the highest bidder. It means raising enough money to make competitive offers to priority recruits and hoping that Gonzaga’s winning track record and history of player development prove persuasive.

FILE - Bryan Seeley, a Major League Baseball senior vice president, testifies on a bill that would legalize sports betting in Kansas during a legislative committee hearing, March 13, 2018, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/Mitchell Willetts, File) — Bryan Seeley, a former assistant U.S. attorney who has served for more than a decade as MLB’s vice president of investigations and deputy general counsel, has been announced as the CEO of the College Sports Commission, college sports’ new enforcement entity. (AP)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

“When our coaches are out recruiting, we want to be in the conversation financially with student-athletes that our coaches see as a good fit for our program,” Standiford said.

While Gonzaga and the Big East schools may be able to directly allocate more money to men’s basketball players than their Power Four peers, they’re not naive enough to think that an SEC or Big Ten juggernaut is just going to concede a recruiting battle. They expect Power Four schools to try to make up for any financial disadvantage via third-party and booster-backed name, image and likeness deals.

The House vs. NCAA settlement calls for the establishment of a new enforcement entity, the College Sports Commission (CSC), which oversees the rev-share cap management system and NIL Go clearinghouse. The CSC, headed by former MLB vice president of investigations Bryan Seeley, will be responsible for stamping out the pay-for-play deals that have dominated the NIL era of college sports, theoretically capping the market for athletes and ensuring that schools do not exceed the $20.5 million they’re allowed to distribute.

Athletes are required to submit to the clearinghouse all third-party NIL deals that exceed $600 — so basically all of them. The clearinghouse then must determine which deals are for a valid business purpose and are within a “reasonable range of compensation” and which are simply a recruiting incentive.

How will the clearinghouse determine which deals are circumventing NIL rules and which are legitimate? Nobody knows. College coaches and administrators are also in the dark on whether the clearinghouse’s decisions will hold up in court against a legal challenge and on what sorts of investigative or punitive powers the new enforcement arm will possess.

Caitlin Clark appearing in a State Farm commercial or Cooper Flagg hawking New Balance shoes almost certainly wouldn’t trigger any red flags. But what about Tyson Chicken brokering a seven-figure deal with an incoming five-star point guard at Arkansas? Or Nike doing the same for a coveted quarterback transferring to Oregon? Or some school’s collective connecting a wide receiver with a car dealership owned by an affluent alum?

“What everyone is waiting to see is how this NIL clearinghouse will work,” Ackerman, the Big East commissioner, said. “If schools are capped per the terms of the House settlement but they can circumvent the cap through these third-party payments, then I think that any quote-unquote ‘advantage’ that anyone has is out the window. That would threaten this structure that has been crafted, which is intended to create some guardrails and to allow schools to responsibly manage their money.

“If the Wild West we’re in now can’t be managed through this clearinghouse and schools can supplement in significant ways what they’re spending directly, it will remain to be seen who the advantage goes to.”

For either Gonzaga or the Big East to have any semblance of a financial edge, the clearinghouse must be able to combat pay-for-play NIL deals and power-thirsty boosters who flout the rules by depositing money into athletes’ bank accounts under the table.

Count many in college sports circles as having serious doubts that will happen.

Ohio State donors reportedly raised $20 million to pay for the 2024-25 football roster that went on to capture the national championship last January. The men’s basketball rosters everywhere from Kentucky to North Carolina to BYU reportedly will cost well over $10 million next season. As Kull, the St. John’s athletic director noted, it’s hard to give big-money donors the power to help assemble a team for a few years, only to yank it away out of nowhere.

“I know the thought process and the hope was that the settlement would remove collectives from the equation,” Kull said. “I don’t see that happening. An SEC football program might get 80% of the revenue sharing money, but it’s not going to dissuade their boosters in how they’re currently doing NIL for basketball. So I don’t see it being the advantage that we all in the Big East would love it to be.”

The way Standiford sees it, third-party NIL deals are about to be “the new battleground” in college athletics. The Gonzaga athletic director envisions athletic departments investing heavily into telling the stories of their star players, building their individual brands and trying to make them attractive to corporations seeking to partner with college athletes.

“You can compete in an open market for the advantage of your program, versus trying to beat the rules,” Standiford said. “Play by the rules — just do it better than anybody else.”

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Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormak makes a big claim ahead of next football season

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormak has been in the job since July of 2022. Since then, the Big 12 has been represented in every College Football Playoff. In Yormaks inagural year, it was TCU who shocked the world and made it to the National Championship before crashing out to Georgia in what was a dominant […]

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7 minutes ago

July 13, 2025

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The year after, Texas was heartbroken thanks to a 37-31 loss to eventual runner-ups Washington in the semifinal stage.

But, last year things were a little different. the 2024/25 season saw the expansion to the 12-team playoff bracket and big-hitters Texas and Oklahoma jumped ship to the SEC, as the Big 12 welcomed four new teams. The likes of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah were each introduced.

Just one team from the Big 12 made the CFP, being Arizona State.

It would be harsh to say last season was a disappointment from the Big 12 standpoint. After all, having to deal with the massive blows of losing Texas and Oklahoma was patched with the Sun Devils compiling a six-game win streak that pushed Kenny Dillingham’s team to the playoff.

Yet Yormak expects for this season to be different.

According to Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports, Yormak was quoted at the Big 12 Media Days saying, “No league offers the competitive balance that we do. … I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple College Football Playoff bids this year and to show once again that we can compete.”

When looking at the current layout of the Big 12, this is an ambitious claim. According to college football analyst Phil Steele, 11 teams were ranked inside the top 50, including the Jayhawks.

Those teams include Arizona State (15), Baylor (18), Utah, Texas Tech (25), TCU (26), Iowa State (28), Kansas State (30), Brigham Young University (42), Cincinnati (42), and Houston (46), before Kansas reached the 49th spot.

As of today, star BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff withdrew from the program after likely being faced with a seven-game suspension, after breaking the BYU honor code, taking away a possible dark horse for some college football playoff drama. Combine that with the massive overhaul of Texas Tech, which has seen the Red Raiders reel in 21 of the nation’s elite transfers and the world has yet to see thme fully mesh.

Dillingham’s Arizona State is, of course, going to top the Big 12 schools after their remarkable 11-3 season last Fall.

For the Jayhawks, opinions are mixed, quarterback Jalon Daniels appears to still have a little bit of a question mark over his head from fans regarding his ability when fully fit after spells of injury holding him back. That, along with the recent promotions of assistants to full-time coordinator positions, has its ups and downs. But, a strong transfer class ranked 7th in the Big 12 according to 247Sports does pose hope.

More Kansas Football News

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College Football is ripe for another Michigan/Notre Dame classic

Too much time has passed since the Wolverines and Fighting Irish have butted heads in one of the sport’s most iconic rivalries. The next scheduled meeting is not until 2033 in Ann Arbor and a year later in South Bend. In my opinion these two titans should be playing every year, excluding the college football […]

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1 hour ago

July 13, 2025

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If and when they matchup it will be the first time that two African American coaches lead the way for both programs. Marcus Freeman and Sherrone Moore are riding high off of last season’s proverbial humps that they both mutually overcame. However in eight years from now one or both might be gone, with how things are humming inside their respective buildings.

2028 is the soonest that both have an opening on their schedules. Credit to Notre Dame which is not shying away from playing teams like Texas, Alabama and Florida during that stretch. So its argument of not wanting to play Michigan in the same time frame is somewhat valid.

If Notre Dame ever decided to join a conference the Big Ten makes more sense than the ACC and are a much better fit then the four Pac-12 members who debuted in 2024. Unfortunately since the Irish stayed independent this long, then they’ll never join a conference, unless the money is too rich to turn down.

A prime-time game between the two would do astronomical numbers wherever they play, like in 2011. The most likely scenario, though, is that they’ll square off in the playoffs before 2033. You would think that with the money alone, both universities would find a way to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties involved.

A Michigan/Notre Dame regular season clash makes college football better. The only thing that would top it would be a national championship encounter.

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How a Certain Longhorns’ Recruiting Strategy Further Proves ‘Texas is Back’

What is the biggest sign that the Texas Longhorns are once again one of the premier programs in college football? Beyond the two season 12+ win seasons, and back-to-back appearances in the College Football Playoff semifinal, it is their approach to handling NIL on the recruiting trail. As recently detailed in a report from OrangeBloods’ […]

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2 hours ago

July 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

As recently detailed in a report from OrangeBloods’ Anwar Richardson, the 2026 recruiting cycle has seen head coach Steve Sarkisian and his coaching staff approach recruiting differently.

“Texas wants to have enough money to retain key players after this season, and overspending on unproven high school players is not an option,” Richardson writes, as shared on Twitter.

Even with the recent changes in college athletics, specifically in regards to NIL. Money is still an object in these recruitments, and it will be that way for the foreseeable future. That is, even though the House v. NCAA settlement ushered in a new era of college athletics, with the implementation of revenue sharing.

While the Longhorns do undoubtedly have just as many, if not more, resources than anybody in college football, when it comes to NIL, that doesn’t mean they are willing to shell out money carelessly. “Buying” as many top recruits as they can in the hope it nets a national championship.

Instead, the Longhorns are taking a more measured approach. It is one that the “powerhouse” programs like Alabama, Georgia, and even Ohio State have been doing in the years since NIL has been implemented, and essentially enabled a “pay for play” scheme.

With this strategy, the Longhorns will not shell out millions of dollars for a player unless they truly believe that player meets it in terms of their own valuation. It is the financial responsibility that will potentially allow the Longhorns to keep their national championship window open as long as possible.

Because even without an individual five-star in the classes ahead, they already boast one of the most talented rosters in college football. It is a roster that has seen them come within a few plays of playing for a national title.

And while the importance of strong high school recruiting hasn’t faded. Texas will continue to rely heavily on its ability to sign as talented a high school class as possible; they are more willing to pay for players who are proven products in the college game. Like those already on their roster, or those who are experiencing success elsewhere in college football that may enter the transfer portal.

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Wisconsin basketball knows its first opponent—Here’s who’s up first

The Wisconsin Badgers basketball season is slowly taking shape. The Badgers haven’t shied away from tough competition by adding BYU, Villanova, and a fun invitational that features Providence, TCU, and the national champions, the Florida Gators. Now we finally know who the first game and opponent will be, according to basketball insider Rocco Miller. The […]

Published

3 hours ago

July 13, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Wisconsin Badgers will square off against the Campbell Fighting Camels on November 3rd at the Kohl Center.

NEWS: Wisconsin and Campbell will meet in the 2025-26 College Basketball season opener on Monday, November 3rd at the Kohl Center, per multiple sources.

This will mark the Fighting Camels’ head coaching debut for John Andrzejek. #B1G #CAAHoops

— Rocco Miller (@RoccoMiller8) July 11, 2025

The Wisconsin Badgers vs. the Campbell Fighting Camels will kick off the 2025-2026 season

It was good for Greg Gard and Chris McIntosh to add in a ton of talented non-conference opponents to help the tournament chances and get the Badgers ready for Big Ten play. However, starting with a winnable game is important for a team that is over half rebuilt and has a 3/5ths of a new starting lineup.

The Badgers and the Fighting Camels have never played a game against each other, and this will mark the very first meeting of the two programs. The Fighting Camels had a very forgettable season last year, going 15-17 and ultimately replacing their head coach. The game against Wisconsin will also be the debut of new head coach John Andrzejek for Campbell.

The Badgers are hosting, providing an excellent chance for fans to see the rebuilt team in action, along with some fan favorites like John Blackwell, Jack Janicki, and Nolan Winter. This next season holds promise as the Badgers found a way into the round of 32 but lost in a disappointing game against BYU. There is renewed hope for next season.

The start of the season will be a good way to secure a win, and yet learn how this team works together and what roles each player will play on the team.

The official announcement hasn’t taken place, and so more details will follow, like game time and ticket information.

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Klassey on KMJ at 10:00 AM : NIL and Stadium Expansion

JoeFan13 said… (original post) Please everyone just stop with the “new stadium” talk, it ain’t gonna happen. VC needs major upgrade, yes, this is feasible and should result in a… show more The reason why a new stadium is being brought up, is that the cost will most likely be about $350 million. But that […]

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3 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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JoeFan13 said… (original post) Please everyone just stop with the “new stadium” talk, it ain’t gonna happen. VC needs major upgrade, yes, this is feasible and should result in a…

The reason why a new stadium is being brought up, is that the cost will most likely be about $350 million. But that a full renovation alone might cost $200-250 million plus.

A new stadium could be designed to allow better accommodations for outside events like concerts, tractor pulls, etc. Also building spaces and amenities to attract more premium customers, to get more revenue per person in those areas. The new stadium most likely will also include an attached football facility.

A renovation of the stadium will be cheaper, but at what cost. They may not find it feasible to put that much money into a facility that will then only be used 6 times per year. AD Klassy stated shade is a big issue that people have brought up. How can that be addressed at VCS? The overhangs in past renderings and plans, would barely cover a few rows and simply be a waste of money. The tunnels were thought and then eliminated in the “Elevate” plan. So people would still complain about walking up and heading down the stairs.

The thing is, Bulldog Stadium has tradition and memories for most fans of Fresno State, but it still was built in the late 70’s. Not like is was built in the 20-30’s.

Basically need to work on the best ROI, be it a reno or new. Work the numbers and see what looks better, not only a few years down the line, but 30-50 years down the road.

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Five-star TE Kaiden Prothro commits to Georgia over Florida, Texas

Eli LedermanJul 12, 2025, 04:59 PM ET Close Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World. Georgia beat Florida and Texas to its second five-star pledge in the 2026 class on Saturday with a commitment from […]

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3 hours ago

July 13, 2025

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Eli LedermanJul 12, 2025, 04:59 PM ET
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Georgia beat Florida and Texas to its second five-star pledge in the 2026 class on Saturday with a commitment from tight end Kaiden Prothro, the No. 19 overall prospect in the 2026 ESPN 300.

Prothro, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound recruit from Bowdon, Georgia, is ESPN’s No. 2 overall tight end and viewed as one of the top pass catchers at any position in the current class. A priority in-state target for coach Kirby Smart, Prothro took official visits to Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Texas before narrowing his recruitment to the Bulldogs, Gators and Longhorns last month.

He announced his commitment to Georgia in a ceremony at Bowdon High School, where Prothro has hauled in 89 passes for 2,034 yards and 35 touchdowns over the past two seasons.

Prothro arrives as the Bulldogs’ 17th ESPN 300 pledge in an incoming recruiting class that sits at No. 2 in ESPN’s latest class rankings for the cycle, joining quarterback Jared Curtis (No. 6 overall) as the program’s second five-star commit in 2026. He now stands as the top-ranked member of a growing Georgia pass-catcher class that also includes four-star wide receivers Brady Marchese (No. 62) and Ryan Mosley (No. 120) and three-star Craig Dandridge.

The Bulldogs, who produced six NFL draft picks at tight ends from 2019-24, have forged a reputation for developing top tight end talent under Smart and assistant coach Todd Hartley. Georgia signed ESPN’s top two tight end prospects — Elyiss Williams and Ethan Barbour — in the 2025 class, and Prothro now follows four-stars Brayden Fogle (No. 142 overall) and Lincoln Keyes (No. 238) as the program’s third tight end pledge in 2026.

Those arrivals, along with eligibility beyond 2025 for current Georgia tight ends Lawson Luckie and Jaden Reddell, could make for a crowded tight end room when Prothro steps on campus next year.

However, Prothro is expected to distinguish himself at the college level as a versatile downfield option capable of creating mismatches with a unique blend of size, speed and physicality in the mold of former two-time All-America Georgia tight end Brock Bowers. His father Clarence told ESPN that Georgia intends to utilize Prothro across roles, including flex tight end and jumbo receiver, and said scheme fit was a key driving factor in his son’s decision.

A three-time state football champion, Prothro caught 33 passes for 831 yards and 13 touchdowns as a sophomore in 2023. He eclipsed 1,200-yards in his junior campaign last fall, closing 2024 with 56 receptions (21.4 yards per catch) and 22 receiving touchdowns en route to a 13-2 finish and a third consecutive state championship. Prothro is also an All-Region baseball player and was credited with 20.7 points and 16.5 rebounds per game in his junior basketball season.

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