Unlike colleges such as the University of Alabama or Ohio State, Drexel is not typically top of mind when it comes to prestigious athletics programs. As a member of the Coastal Athletic Association, which is not part of the Power 5 conferences (which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Big Ten Conference, the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference), Drexel is classified as a mid-major. This label comes from the conference that a school’s men’s basketball team plays in. In today’s college athletic landscape, which is shaped by name, image and likeness opportunities, this characterization has limited the ability of Drexel’s student-athletes to fully benefit from NIL deals. 

Unfortunately for Drexel, the shortcomings of the men’s basketball program have undermined the success of other Drexel athletics programs. Just this season, the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams made trips to the CAA championship, and the women’s team was consistently ranked as one of the top 25 programs in the nation. Both Drexel squash programs rank in the top 10, the rowing teams have dominated in recent competitions, and, in 2024, the women’s basketball team won the CAA championship and competed in March Madness. 

Despite these achievements, Drexel is still a relatively unknown school in college athletics. While this can be attributed to a number of factors, perhaps the main issue of name recognition stems from the lack of NIL funding towards athletes. 

Since the initial Supreme Court ruling back in 2021, NIL has transformed the landscape of college athletics. The court found that college athletes can profit off of their name, image and likeness on top of the scholarship given to them by their school. 

In the four short years since this ruling, how athletes prioritize and decide the schools for their collegiate career has completely changed. Now, on top of following their dreams of professional sports, athletes are also weighing the possibility of making as much revenue as they can. 

This dynamic is especially prevalent in men’s basketball, where it is not uncommon for players to enter the transfer portal two or three times. One example of this is PJ Haggerty, who has played on three different teams and recently announced he would be committing to Kansas State after negotiating to receive a $2.5 million NIL package. While athletes from mid-majors are not getting as large of deals as Haggerty, they still stand to benefit financially by transferring to schools with better NIL infrastructure. 

During this offseason, Drexel’s men’s basketball team lost four of its most impactful players to the transfer portal. Cole Hargrove and Kobe McGee, who both earned CAA awards this season, transferred to Providence and Florida State University, respectively. Jason Drake announced he would spend his final year at the University of Indiana, and Yame Butler transferred to Butler University after an outstanding season. In recent memory, other standout players such as Amari Williams and Justin Moore have made moves to larger universities. 

Despite head coach Zach Spiker’s claim of a culture with “a group that is connected [and] a locker room that loves being around each other” at Drexel, it seems not to be enough as the Dragons continue to lose top talent every offseason. What is the motive for these players entering their names into the NCAA transfer portal if not for potential NIL deals?

While NIL has given numerous opportunities to many different athletes, it has also created problems for universities struggling to keep up with the ever-changing rules. Currently, colleges believe that for NIL to be successful, rules and regulations are needed to stop the disproportionate allotment of money to players. At the time of publication, athletes are allowed to get paid in any amount and without any restrictions. In an attempt to make resources more equitable, the College Sports Commission was created by the Power 5 conferences to establish limitations.

For Drexel and other mid-major institutions, NIL equality is especially important, as they do not have the resources available to attract and keep star athletes. Earlier this year, an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer revealed that Drexel’s NIL resources rank in the bottom half out of all the schools in the CAA, raising concerns for Drexel and its sustainability in the coming years. 

In December 2023, Drexel announced that they were launching the Dragon Fire Collective, a NIL Collective intended to support Drexel athletes by creating NIL opportunities for them. However, this effort seems to be inactive at the moment, as the last post on their Instagram was a “day in the life” video featuring Yame Butler from June 2024. Without an active collective to assist students in earning NIL money, Drexel is positioning itself further behind other mid-major universities and running the risk of losing athletes to the transfer portal. 

The future of NIL remains uncertain to this day. Pending a judge’s decision on the House vs. NCAA lawsuit, which could allow schools to distribute up to $20.5 million to student-athletes, the CAA’s Board of Directors has voted to opt in to the settlement. If the judge rules in the athletes’ favor, CAA institutions, including Drexel, would be required to share their revenue. 

While this decision is expected to come in late June, Drexel has already announced that they will comply with the CAA’s decision and that they are prepared to share revenue with their athletes, as confirmed by the Inquirer. 

Other schools in the CAA, such as Stony Brook, have also stated plans to share their revenue with their athletes. On May 28th, they became the first school in the CAA to partner with a third-party platform to help manage revenue sharing. In addition to being an early adopter of the CAA’s mandate, Stony Brook, which has similar athletic success as Drexel, boasts one of the best NIL systems for a mid-major university. 

Despite Stony Brook’s collective being launched around the same time as Drexel’s, it has made much more progress. Since the launch of the 1957 Club, the organization has hosted galas, created merchandise and partnered with NIL websites that allow fans to subscribe and gain access to the Seawolves’ athletes. Although these efforts have not entirely prevented players from entering the transfer portal this year, the university is still setting itself up for a better future than Drexel, which does not have any of these opportunities in place.

Drexel will never become the next Notre Dame, but that should not be an excuse to not build up a NIL system that prioritizes keeping players at Drexel, winning games and creating better opportunities for their athletes. With the upcoming ruling regarding revenue sharing, Drexel has the chance to level the playing field with other mid-major programs. Taking action now will make the university more competitive and set up every current and future athlete to have a successful career as a Drexel Dragon.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Cece Cellura, a pitcher from San Diego State, and Kylee Edwards, an infielder from Mississippi State, will join the LSU softball team for the 2026 season.

Both Cellura and Edwards come to LSU with two years of eligibility remaining.

Cellura was named to the 2025 All-Mountain West First Team and helped bring the Aztecs two consecutive Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship titles.

In 2025, Cellura was 19-9 in the circle with a 2.28 ERA behind 94 strikeouts in 153.2 innings pitched. In 39 appearances and 20 starts, Cellura tossed four shutouts and recorded three saves.

The right-handed hurler led the Mountain West with a 4.70 strikeout-to-walk ratio, a 1.10 WHIP and allowed 0.91 walks per seven innings, ranking No. 3 in the country.

Overall, in her career, Cellura has a 27-14 record with a 2.48 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 262.0 innings pitched.

Edwards, who earned a spot on the NFCA South All-Region Second Team, started all 58 games at shortstop in 2025, where she batted .290 with 47 hits, 34 runs and 37 RBI. Edwards had 18 extra-base hits with nine doubles and nine home runs.

She also drew 24 walks and was 7-for-7 in stolen bases. In the field, she had a .945 fielding percentage with 87 assists, 69 putouts and nine errors.

In her two seasons at State, Edwards logged a .280 batting average with 83 hits, including 14 home runs, has scored 59 runs and drove in 60 runs.  

More LSU News:

LSU Target, Top-Five Quarterback in America Earns Coveted Elite 11 Invite

LSU Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier Turning Heads This Offseason, Expectations Rising

LSU’s Joe Sloan Comments on One Wide Receiver to Keep Tabs on in 2025

As we head into a new athletics year under the NIL era, a new bill has been signed into law in the state of Texas that could benefit Texas A&M and other universities in the state moving forward.

As announced on Thursday afternoon, Governor Greg Abbott signed a new NIL law that will allow athletes over 17 in the state to receive NIL contracts directly from a university. This bill also aligns with the House settlement that is yet to be approved. For Texas A&M and other in-state universities, it will allow them to avoid any potential lawsuits or compliance issues and compete for recruits in some ways others may not be able to just yet.

The implementation of the bill was first reported by KBTX senior sports writer Travis L. Brown via X:

Let’s cut straight to the facts: there is no denying the influence of NIL on all collegiate athletics and it continues to grow by the minute. The transfer portal has reached historic numbers since the decision was made to introduce financial gain for players for their name, image and likeness (NIL).

That was just the beginning of something way bigger than anyone ever thought could happen in the sport. Some college athletes, like UCLA quarterback Nico Lamaleava, are making millions of dollars before they even reach the National Football League, which has always been the goal of most athletes, historically speaking.

Now, what is stopping players from just managing their finances in college and then retiring? Is that going to cause a shortage of athletes in the NFL? Or, will the professional football league continue to blossom? That is still to be determined.

For now, the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit remains in full swing, with seemingly no end in sight just yet. The proposed, and now imposed, bill in the state of Texas protects universities in the state in more ways than one, while also providing a slight edge in recruiting as well.

The world of NIL and the transfer portal is something that will change rapidly and often. As new bills are signed or rejected, there seems to be some major miscommunications between the House and the NCAA that could be detrimental for all parties if not solved.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.

This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: NIL era news: Texas governor implements integral new bill heading into new athletic year

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The NCAA changed college sports in 2021 with the long-awaited introduction of its Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies for student-athletes. These policies granted college athletes the right to earn money through endorsements, sponsorships, and social media platforms.

Previously, the NCAA’s rules banned athletes from profiting from their personal brand in any form. NIL has opened doors for young people, especially those from financially challenged backgrounds. Unfortunately, it has disrupted the stability and culture of college athletics.

Before the current NIL era, student-athletes transferring schools often had to redshirt and sit out for a year before returning to play. The redshirt rule, which has long been a target of criticism, aimed to keep rosters stable and reduce the frequency of short-term transfers, but those days are now long gone.

Now, athletes switch schools more freely and frequently to find better financial opportunities through NIL deals. This newfound “freedom,” while lucrative, is reshaping recruiting and ultimately roster management across college sports.

The NIL system has its share of critics, with Shaquille O’Neal being among them. Shaq did not hold back about his issues with the way the current system operates. On the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, he slammed players for transferring too often due to NIL incentives.

“If I write you a check for a million dollars, you can’t stay for 300 days,” Shaq said. “You gotta at least give me 2 years.” O’Neal believes NIL athletes should show loyalty if they accept money from collectives.

“I think there should be some rules and regulations because you got all these guys going into portals and guys that are high school players unless you’re [an] All-American like myself [you are] not going to get a shot,” O’Neal remarked, raising a less-talked about issue regarding players in the NCAA transfer portals.

Shaq’s criticism of how this trend will ultimately affect young high school athletes seeking college opportunities was brought up during a press conference in February by tenured NCAA college coach Rick Pitino, who stated, “We’re not recruiting any high school players.”

Do today’s (would-be) college athletes weigh program prestige and coaching alongside potential NIL earnings before committing to a school? Some believe they solely look at their earning potential, with many choosing to transfer if another university offers stronger branding or better collective support. That trend worries coaches, who fear fractured locker rooms and fleeting loyalty.

Even Dwyane Wade and WNBA icon Tina Thompson have spoken out about how the NIL is slowly defeating the main point of college athletics- students getting a good education. Like Sam L. Jackson said in Coach Carter, college ballers are students first, and athletes second. Their education cannot be compromised for the sake of basketball.

Thompson, in a conversation with Wade, echoed the same sentiment. “These kids are transferring colleges, going to a different school every single year. You can’t get an education that way,” Thompson said. “Like, you’re not getting a degree. The money that you’re getting, 75, 100,000, 300,000 dollars- you think it’s a lot of money because you’ve not made any money.”

While both Thompson and Wade have raved about how the NIL finally allows student athletes to make money off their own hard work, the flip side of it does tend to outweigh the pros. Will the NIL’s legacy be the financial freedom it gives students or the adverse effect it has on their education?

Michigan Running Back’s Groundbreaking NIL Deal Redefines College Football originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

When Justice Haynes traded crimson for maize and blue, Michigan fans expected game-changing runs. What they didn’t expect? A business move just as explosive.

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Haynes, the former Alabama running back and one of the top transfers of 2025, has inked a unique NIL deal with Loom Juices, not just as a brand ambassador, but as an equity stakeholder. That’s right: the Wolverines’ rising star now owns part of the brand.

“This partnership exemplifies how athletes can leverage their platforms for meaningful, long-term brand engagements,” said Haynes’ agent, Dan Everett.

In a landscape flooded with apparel deals and one-off endorsements, Haynes’ agreement stands out. According to On3’s Pete Nakos, the deal positions the 5-foot-11, 205-pound back not only as a face of Loom’s health-focused mission, but as a strategic partner. For Loom, which targets a younger, wellness-conscious demographic, Haynes is the ideal match.

The move reflects a growing NIL trend: equity over appearance. Instead of cashing short-term checks, Haynes is playing the long game, something fans and athletes alike should take note of.

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It’s a bold step for the sophomore, who tallied 715 total yards and nine touchdowns over two seasons at Alabama. After entering the portal this winter, Haynes chose Michigan over South Carolina and Ole Miss, eager for a bigger stage and a larger role. He now enters a wide-open RB competition for a team hungry to rebound from a disappointing 10-3 finish in 2024.

With Haynes bringing both his downhill running style and entrepreneurial mindset to Ann Arbor, it’s clear: this isn’t just about football anymore.

This NIL deal isn’t just a contract. It’s a statement about athlete empowerment, brand strategy, and the evolving landscape of college sports.

If Haynes breaks out in the Big Ten like many expect, Loom Juices won’t just have a new face. They’ll have a stake in a star.

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Related: Former Kentucky Great Has Words About NIL: “I’m Glad I Didn’t Play in That Era”

Related: Bill Belichick Breaks Silence on NIL Chaos

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.

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