The NIL movement on Capitol Hill will have a huge push on Thursday, as both Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and former Alabama coach Nick Saban will join President Donald Trump to discuss regulations.

The transfer portal has run wild as college athletes are now aiming to make as much money as possible during their college eligibility.

Tuberville said ideally, the government would not be involved, but they find themselves in the thick of things and are brainstorming.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Sen. Tommy Tuberville attends the House and Senate committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 in the Dirksen Building on Nov. 29, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“The one thing we can do is we can make every state be on the same level [for NIL money]… Now, between that, we have to come up with some rules for transfer portals and possible contracts for players, all the things that make college football the greatest sport ever. We do not want to turn into minor league sports. We can do things, we just gotta get it passed,” he told 109.9 The Game in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday.

Tuberville, though, blamed Democrats for the continued whirlwind that is the current atmosphere of college sports.

“I think we can get it on the floor, the problem is getting it past a Democrat group that really wants nothing to do with making this country better. They don’t care about college sports or education, they worry about the power that they control in this country. It’s a hard way to go, but if anybody can get it done, it’s President Trump, and hopefully we can have some discussion to get on the right track toward helping the NIL and college sports,” he said.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville speaks to members of the media outside the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in New York, on May 13, 2024. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

FORMER COLORADO STARS SPEAK OUT AMID SHEDEUR SANDERS, TRAVIS HUNTER’S CONTROVERSIAL JERSEY RETIREMENTS

Tuberville also said women’s sports, and transgender inclusion, will be at the forefront of the discussion.

“There’s nothing more important than women’s sports, women’s athletics, and he stopped the nonsense of biological men and boys in women’s sports.… We’ve gotta save Title IX, we’ve gotta save women’s sports, and President Trump is the one that will stand up and fight for women. He’s done that, he understands it, and that will be in our entire discussion about NIL. If we continue down this path, there’s not gonna be any money left.… If we don’t do something soon, we will lose a lot of non-revenue sports, and most of those include women’s sports.”

Tuberville also believes that if this current landscape continues, “you’re going to start losing fans.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville talks during a television interview before former President Donald Trump speaks at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, June 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Sooner or later, it’ll affect the fans that pay that ticket not knowing who the players are with no loyalty.…” he said. “There’s no carryover or loyalty to schools that these fans love to support.”

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) recently hosted “The Nittanys” for the 38^th-consecutive year. The event is a celebration of excellence in Penn State Athletics and was held at Pegula Ice Arena.   

More than 40 Penn State student-athletes and several teams were recognized for their academic, athletic and community engagement achievements in an awards-style format. The event, which was sponsored by Penn State Student-Athlete Welfare & Development, was hosted by Caroline Jurevicius from the national champion Penn State women’s volleyball team.
 

Team Honors
Milton K. Morgan Jr. Highest Team GPA
The women’s gymnastics team was presented with the Milton K. Morgan Jr. Highest Team GPA award for its academic success during the 2024-25 academic year.

Varsity S Club Most Improved GPA
The teams honored for the most improved GPA were men’s tennis and women’s volleyball for their academic improvement in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24.
 
Individual Honors
Ernest B. McCoy Award
The McCoy Award is named for the longtime Dean of Penn State’s College of Physical Education, who also served as the University’s athletic director. The award is given to a senior men’s and women’s student-athlete who has combined successful athletic participation with academic excellence. The honorees of the Ernest B. McCoy award were Tyler Warren (football) and Jess Mruzik (women’s volleyball).
 
True Grit Award
The True Grit award recognizes a male and female student-athlete whose determination, and perseverance in overcoming serious adversity athletically or even personally, stands as a testament to their tremendous character and indomitable spirit. This award is sponsored by the Nittany Lion Club. This year’s honorees were Bella Misiura (women’s gymnastics) and Ben Schoen (men’s hockey).
 
Above and Beyond Mr. & Ms. Penn State
This award was established by SAAB to recognize the contributions of one male and one female senior student-athlete who display the true spirit of “WE ARE” as exemplified by their contributions and inspirations to their respective teams, as well their passion for everything Penn State. Recipients of this award are recognized for the following qualities: caring, encouragement, humility, honesty, humor, kindness, patience and school spirit. This year’s award recipients were Drew Taylor (field hockey) and Nick Dawkins (football).

Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award
The Big Ten Jackie Robinson Community & Impact Award was created to recognize Big Ten student-athletes who demonstrate Jackie Robinson’s core values, or “Jackie’s nine”: Courage, Determination, Teamwork, Persistence, Integrity, Citizenship, Justice, Commitment, and Excellence. Specifically, those student-athletes that have made an exceptional effort in impacting their local community through volunteerism, community programing, and/or philanthropy between January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024. This year’s recipients from Penn State were Jami Morris (women’s golf) and Dylan Lugris (men’s hockey).

Behind the Scenes Heroes
This award was established by SAAB to recognize individuals who are the embodiment of what it means to be selfless in the service of others, with no expectation of recognition, but are vital to student-athletes success here at Penn State. Katy Pohland, the director of athletic wellness and therapy services, was this year’s recipient.
 
THON Awards
THON Donor Drive Challenge
This award created by SAAB is in recognition of the team that raised the highest total this year on behalf of THON. The team which raised the most money collectively for THON was field hockey.

THON Individual Highest Total Raised
Elise DeWan (field hockey) was recognized as the student-athlete who individually raised the highest total on behalf of THON

THON Spirit Award
Ellie Hollin (women’s lacrosse) was honored with the THON Spirit Award. This award recognizes a student-athlete whose commitment to bringing awareness and funding to find a cure to end pediatric cancer, has been unmatched in their energy, effort and passion for all things THON.
 
Team Engagement Awards
This award created by SAAB recognizes the teams that participated the most in community service. Overall, 10 teams were honored: women’s golf, field hockey, women’s ice hockey, women’s swimming and diving, men’s soccer, men’s gymnastics, men’s ice hockey, men’s lacrosse, men’s volleyball, and baseball.

In today’s episode of Longshore and McKnight, hosts John and Barry took a wide-ranging look at the college football landscape, led by ongoing concerns over NIL spending and scheduling politics in the SEC. Much of the conversation focused on Texas’ reported $35–40 million roster budget, prompting debates about fairness, sustainability, and how schools like Alabama and Auburn can keep pace. Guest analysts Kevin Scarbinsky, Jason Caldwell, and Rodney Orr joined throughout the show to unpack Texas’ rise, Alabama’s stability under Kalen DeBoer, and Auburn’s potential NFL talent pipeline. The trio also discussed recruiting trends, spring portal movement, and early SEC championship predictions, with Florida and LSU floated as dark horse contenders.

Catch live episodes of Longshore and McKnight daily on YouTube, Spotify, and on Yellowhammer News 

Beyond football, the show spotlighted Auburn’s No. 1-ranked men’s golf team ahead of NCAA regional play, with Caldwell offering insights into NIL’s impact on non-revenue sports and the Tigers’ strong postseason chances. They also covered Auburn baseball and softball’s postseason outlook, with RPI rankings and strength of schedule playing a key role. Other hot topics included NIL legislation for Alabama high school athletes, fan frustration with state lawmakers over missed revenue opportunities, and potential political interference in sports gambling and education funding.

A five-person committee is tasked with selecting the most competitive field of At-Large Teams to compete for both National Championships. The committees are made up of five voting members and one non-voting ICSA competition committee member. Automatic qualifications are awarded to conference champions and their runners-up, while the remaining berths are selected through a structured process by the committee.

The third-seeded women’s team earned automatic qualification to the competition after placing second at the NEISA Women’s Fleet Race Championship, which took place from Apr. 19-20 at Yale.

The fifth-seeded open team earned an At-Large berth after finishing third in the NEISA Open Fleet Race Championship back on Apr. 19-20 at Brown. 

Both teams earned top five seeding out of 36 selections in both disciplines. 

The ICSA Women’s Fleet Race Championship will take place from May 20-23, with the Open Fleet Race Championship from May 27-30. Both events will be hosted by St. Mary’s College of Maryland. 

BROWN UNIVERSITY SPORTS FOUNDATION

The Brown University Sports Foundation (BUSF) is the lifeblood of the athletics program and exists to enhance the student-athlete experience through philanthropic support from alumni, parents, fans, and friends. A gift through the Sports Foundation immediately impacts today’s Brown Bears and helps them to be their best in the classroom, in competition, and most importantly in the community. To learn more about supporting the Bears, please click here. 

 @BrownU_Bears on X, @BrownU_Bears on Instagram, like BrownUBears on Facebook and subscribe to the BrownAthletics YouTube channel.

The Texas Longhorns are allegedly approaching an unheard of stratosphere for their 2025 football roster.

The football factory is spiking its budget for this upcoming season from $20 million to between $35 million-$40 million, the Houston Chronicle reported, although 247 Sports disputed that its roster will cost that much.

Texas is reportedly increasing its name, image, and likeness (NIL) budget, which will be a “one-time exorbitant expense” for what is set to be nation’s most expensive college football team.

This budget projection also includes a $20.5 million revenue-sharing allotment, per the outlet.

For reference, MLB’s Miami Marlins have spent $44.5 million on their entire active roster.

Star quarterback and projected first-time starter Arch Manning is “by far the highest paid Texas player,” according to the outlet, but none of his money comes from the school because “he and his family acquired all his deals on their own, with no help from the school.”

Texas does not disclose exact dollar figures for each player “because such transparency foments comparative discussions and locker-room chaos,” although Manning’s NIL valuation is roughly $6.6 million for this season, according to projections from On3.

That leaves plenty of budget to fill out the loaded roster that Texas will be putting on the field this upcoming season.

Texas has the No. 1 recruiting class for the class of 2025, with five five-star players committing to the school this year.

ESPN’s way-too-early college football rankings placed the Texas Longhorns as the country’s No. 2 team, behind only the reigning champion Ohio State Buckeyes.

The Ohio State athletics program spent an obscene $274.9 million during the 2022-23 academic year, and that number is expected to have increased to $300 million in 2023-24, although the school has not yet released its financials from that academic year.

Texas is the only academic program that is able to compete with them in terms of buying power, as Texas spent $232.3 million, the second-most in the 2022-23 timespan, according to Sportico.

The NIL model could be on its way out as a federal judge may approve a House vs. NCAA settlement that would allow schools to pay athletes directly, rather than through an NIL collective model that involves sponsors and brands.

“It’s just unsustainable,” a source told the Chronicle regarding high payouts. “The next season after this year, the whole world will be back to reality.” 

Texas had an uninspiring end to the season last year, going 13-3 and losing to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

WESTVILLE, N.J. (WPVI) — The family called him John. It wasn’t until John Gaudreau played for Boston College that he picked up the “Johnny Hockey” nickname that followed him through 11 seasons in the NHL.

His mother, Jane, gleefully recalled the “Johnny Hockey” T-shirts and sing-song chants BC fans bestowed on their beloved wizard on the ice. At home in New Jersey, younger brother Matthew, who also played hockey for Boston College, and sisters Kristen and Katie couldn’t help but tease their brother with the nickname as his popularity and All-Star career grew through stops in Calgary and Columbus.

(The video above is from a previous report)

Take one night during the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, just one family story out of thousands of favorites, when Gaudreau tried to keep a low public profile on a family outing. Katie wasn’t having it out on the Strip, shouting for all to hear, “Johnny! Johnny Hockey!”

“I can see John’s face getting redder and redder and redder,” Jane Gaudreau said with a laugh. “You walk down the street and no one knows who you are until Katie started making this whole big thing.”

Everything was fine for the family when they gathered last August for Katie’s wedding. John and Matt were the groomsmen and Kristen the maid of honor. What happened next, the typhoon of shock and grief that rippled from New Jersey through the heart of the hockey community, has been well-documented over the last eight months.

The night before the wedding, John, 31, and Matt, 29, died after they were hit by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in Salem County, New Jersey, leaving a family forever shattered, with not enough time to ever fully pick up all the pieces.

They try.

From births to hockey tributes, through Instagram pages dotted with photos from the family scrapbook and a new foundation, to a playground fundraising effort at the family’s beloved school, the Gaudreaus have pushed through dark days when even getting out of bed seemed impossible. They pull through, pull together, just as they did as a family of six in South Jersey, and try to focus on a simple mantra: Live their lives to the fullest in honor of Matt and John.

RELATED: Johnny Gaudreau’s widow welcomes 3rd baby: ‘Can’t wait to give you the best life’

There is more hardship ahead and dark days are going to come and go. The driver charged with killing the brothers, a man prosecutors described as having a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving, still faces trial.

But as Jane Gaudreau details her dream of a new, adaptive playground for the special education students at the school where she works, it’s the good times that stir the most memories. Like when John playfully threatened to stab Katie with a fork at a restaurant for not finishing a stack of pancakes and surprisingly – and gently – followed through.

It’s the stories that lift the spirits of Jane, husband Guy and countless friends and teammates who went through their first hockey season in decades without two men who gave so much to their growing families and to the game.

“It’s great to keep their memories alive,” said their sister, Kristen Venello, who rocks her Blue Jackets hoodie as a speech assistant at Archbishop Damiano School. “It is sad. But you think about all the good things they did and that’s all you can think about. And how much they can help us still.”

The project

Archbishop Damiano School was founded in 1968 for children with Down syndrome and now provides services for 125 students with special needs from ages 3 to 21. Jane Gaudreau’s brother attended the school and their mother worked there for 44 years. Jane was hired in 1984 and is still a finance associate there. Kristen, the oldest daughter, has taught at the school for almost two decades. Katie used to assist with the kids when she could and the two Gaudreau boys volunteered at the school when they weren’t playing hockey.

In death, they can perhaps leave a permanent legacy at Damiano outside family and hockey.

RELATED: Gaudreau Family 5K honors hockey stars, raises funds for local school

Kelsie Snow lost her husband, Chris, a former assistant general manager with the Calgary Flames, in 2023 to Lou Gehrig’s disease. She called Jane with a suggestion on how to navigate life through perpetual grief: Keep busy. Find a project. Jane and Guy embraced the idea and searched for the right one, until they realized the answer was right there at Archbishop Damiano.

The Gaudreaus and the staff at Archbishop Damiano threw themselves into fundraising for a modern playground that allows for everything from basic wheelchair accessibility to ramps and transfer platforms for the students. Students tacked their wish list for the playground — wheelchair swings and even a sand box — to the walls inside the school.

The Gaudreau Family 5K set for May 31 is expected to bring needed cash to the initiative launched by principal Michele McCloskey in October 2020. Raising the necessary funds over the last five years had been a slow build. So many friends from the hockey world and others now inspired by the brothers and the cause have since rallied around the effort.

“I know the boys would be proud of us,” Jane said. “Both boys loved children, that’s why we thought the playground would be perfect.”

The Gaudreaus have another, more enduring project ahead of them as doting grandparents. Both widows have given birth since their husbands died. Meredith, who revealed during her tearful eulogy for John in August that she was pregnant, gave birth in April to the couple’s third child, Carter Michael Gaudreau. Madeline delivered her and Matty’s first baby, Tripp Matthew Gaudreau, in December.

Jane laughs when she describes how much the new additions resemble their fathers. Tripp has light hair like his dad; Carter looks like big sister Noa, and they both look like John.

“My husband keeps saying this,” Jane said, “‘I think God sent us John and Matty back.'”

Guy Gaudreu, a former hockey coach at Hollydell Ice Arena and Gloucester Catholic High School in New Jersey, had his sons on the ice at 2 years old and he’s already making plans for Carter and Tripp. Matthew played for the junior ice hockey Omaha Lancers for two years, and when the family was invited back last month for a tribute night, Guy amused the family as he gave baby Tripp an introduction.

“He was like, smell the ice, this is the locker room,” Jane said with a laugh. “We’re used to that. He’s just crazy like that. I was looking at (Madeline) and she was just laughing, shaking her head.”

The Gaudreaus have kept busy, with fundraising, teaching and various outings that celebrated their sons. Guy has perhaps been at the rink the most since losing the boys. He joined practices for the Blue Jackets and spent time as a guest instructor this season with the Flyers. He hit the ice in Montreal and helped out Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Gaudreaus led the Blue Jackets out of the tunnel at Ohio Stadium in front of nearly 95,000 fans at the NHL Stadium Series.

“I know sometimes we’ll hear people, oh, this poor family, they have to go through this again,” Jane said. “But it’s been quite healing. Through this, I’ve had so many people tell stories of what Matthew or John has done for them, or a hospital, or other people. They appreciate everything the boys did. They were grieving, too. It was a way for us to get out there and talk to people, hear different stories.”

Jane needed a gentle nudge from some Blue Jackets to attend the team’s annual Moms’ Trip to a February game at Detroit. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson surprised Jane with a persuasive call for her attend the annual bonding trip. The other Blue Jackets moms were so supportive of her on the trip, she said, “they knew if I was going to get upset before I even knew.”

“We needed her there,” Gudbranson said. “It wouldn’t have felt right if she wasn’t there.”

On the ice

Sean Monahan and Gaudreau became tight when the stars played together in Calgary, one reason the Blue Jackets center was persuaded by his friend to sign with the team last summer.

Monahan and his family settled near the Gaudreaus in the same Columbus suburb of New Albany, so close as neighbors Monahan counted just 25 steps between the two houses. After Gaudreau’s death, Monahan couldn’t even drive by his friend’s house on his commute to the rink. He and his family have tried to serve as a steady source of support for Meredith and her three children. Monahan even met Carter Gaudreau the day he was born (“good looking little guy, just like John”).

The Blue Jackets dedicated the season to the Gaudreaus and raised John’s No. 13 to the rafters. There’s a patch on the jerseys and the Blue Jackets wore Avalon Surf Shop sweatshirts as part of their “Johnny fit” collection. The team never failed to hang Gaudreau’s jersey in a locker stall for every game, home or away.

“He’s supposed to be here with us,” Monahan said. “It’s just one other thing we can do to keep his name around, keep his legacy going for such a special person.”

Motivated by the memory of their friend, the Blue Jackets were in the hunt for a playoff spot until the final week of the season. They fell two points shy, leaving the team with a “what if?” feeling over missing the playoffs while hurting over Gaudreau.

“It’s something that weighs on my mind and it’s something I think about every day,” Monahan said. “There are no easy days, for sure. I try and live the way he did and it benefited me.”

Gudbranson also held Carter in the hospital and wrestled with the conflicting feelings of the joy over the birth with the sadness Gaudreau was not alive to meet his son.

“There’s a part of you that says this feels wrong that I’m holding my buddy’s son and he hasn’t met him,” Gudbranson said. “That’s hard to wrap your head around. Those kids will probably be 30 years old and I’ll be thinking the same thing. I don’t think that’s going anywhere.”

Gudbranson said that in large part because of Gaudreau’s influence, the season was a “a lot more joyous this year. We’ve enjoyed being teammates.” When the good times were rolling, the Blue Jackets tried to appreciate those moments just like Gaudreau did, the franchise player who was just one of the boys once the final horn sounded.

“Once the game was done, we were just buddies,” Gudbranson said. “He wasn’t necessarily Johnny Hockey to us. The personal side matters to us the most. But yeah, we’ve had conversations like, can you imagine if this guy was on our team this year? How good would he have been with us this year? Holy smokes.”

The road ahead

Guy and Jane, married 42 years, almost never go out to dinner, overwhelmed by feelings of guilt over enjoying themselves, and those emotions also run deep with Katie. She told her mom, yes, she wanted to marry her fiancé, Devin Joyce, but wasn’t sure a big wedding was the way to go. Jane said she simply told her there was no wrong decision, but to let the rage and sadness settle and take as much time as necessary make a decision.

The couple eventually rescheduled their wedding for July 11. Katie wrote on her Instagram post, “I guess this year has taught me to celebrate our love everyday, every minute.”

“You know the boys, they’ll be there with us that day,” Jane said. “They would want you to have fun.”

Jane added with resolve, “This guy already took two of the most important things away from us. Don’t let him take away your wedding.”

Katie reflected on that fateful night on an Instagram post how she had texted her fiancé “we forgot to practice our dip,” during rehearsal to how a “phone call later, our lives would forever change.”

The couple will get a second chance at a wedding, this one in memory of their brothers.

“I think we’ll all be able to get through the day,” Jane said. “I think it will be hard at first. We want to be there for her, support her. The other three had big weddings, it was so fun for our family to be together. I think it will be OK.”

The Gaudreaus want people to remember how the young men lived, not how they died. Sometimes that is difficult: In mid-April, there was a hearing for Sean Higgins, the man charged with reckless vehicular homicide in the Gaudreaus’ deaths, only a few hours before the Blue Jackets played the Flyers nearby. The family skipped the game for the Gloucester Catholic High School Hall of Fame banquet where Matthew was posthumously inducted.

The Gaudreaus have kept their thoughts about the court proceedings private, though Jane did write a pair of inspirational quotes on Instagram later that day, including one that said, “When you have a bad day – a really bad day – try and treat the world better than it treated you.”

A legacy of laughter

The 5K has filled its allotment of 1,000 runners for race day at a New Jersey park but anyone can contribute from home as a virtual participant. More than 700 people have already signed up, from New Jersey to Canada to Ireland, eager to help the cause, which includes an online memorabilia auction that stretches beyond hockey, with all proceeds donated toward the playground effort and its $600,000 goal.

Jane, 62, said it’s hard to remember much through the haze of heartbreak from the funeral and memorial reception, only that she figured more than 1,000 people stopped by the family home to pay their respects. With some distance, the family hoped it would be comforting to see everyone at the 5K and thank them for their love and comfort.

The current playground doesn’t meet the needs of its students in its current shape, there are gaping holes in the turf and the swings and slides were not designed for children with disabilities. If the goal is met, the school hopes to break ground this fall and complete the project next spring.

“As a school for serving people with multiple disabilities, we really don’t get a lot of traction,” said McCloskey, the school principal. “I think through all the media attention, I think people see it, they see why this is important.”

It seems trite to call it a silver lining but the family has searched in vain to find some meaning, some good out of the senseless deaths.

So they’ll run.

For John. For Matt. For a cause the boys so robustly supported in life.

“It’s not the way I’d want to build the playground, of course,” Jane said. “I tend to believe they’ll be up there, being able to listen to the children’s laughter. They’ll just really love the fact that the children will have a playground to play in.”