NIL
Greg Jones returns to AU after entering transfer portal
American University men’s basketball fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that sophomore forward Greg Jones would be returning to the program after a brief stint in the transfer portal. Jones averaged 10.3 points per game this season, making him the team’s third-leading scorer, behind only Matt Rogers and Elijah Stephens, […]
American University men’s basketball fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that sophomore forward Greg Jones would be returning to the program after a brief stint in the transfer portal.
Jones averaged 10.3 points per game this season, making him the team’s third-leading scorer, behind only Matt Rogers and Elijah Stephens, who are both graduating. Jones is the only AU starter not graduating.
On3 Sports first reported that Jones entered the portal on April 15 on X, only weeks after the Eagles won the Patriot League and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament. But the AU basketball team announced his return to American on Instagram on April 23.
Jones, a key player for the Eagles and an emerging star in the Patriot League, made big improvements in his sophomore year — averaging 10.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1 assist, shooting an efficient 50.2 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from behind the arc. The third-leading scorer for the Patriot League Championship-winning Eagles last season also matched his offensive production with a nod to the Patriot League All-Defensive Team.
Jones said that the evolution of the college basketball landscape with name, image and likeness (NIL) payments to players is what initially made him curious to enter the portal.
“The way college basketball is like nowadays and how much money kids are making at other schools — and I wouldn’t say it’s life-changing money — but if I see guys sitting on the bench, not working as hard as me, making a certain dollar amount, that’s a lot. And if I’m not making anything somewhere, I’m going to be curious about that.”
Money wasn’t Jones’ main motivation for entering the portal, though. There were other factors he considered, like facilities, media exposure and a program’s ability to support him when he pursues professional basketball.
“It was definitely more of an exploratory thing, but it’s not all about the money,” Jones said. “I think I could play at a higher level and that could get me ready to play pro ball.”
But before entering the portal, Jones had a sit down meeting with head coach Duane Simpkins about the possibility of returning to the team.
“Before I even talked to him, I knew it was going to be a hard thing to bring up, but he made me feel comfortable about the decision,” Jones said. “I made sure I expressed to him that I still value everything here and it would still be an option for me to come back.”
Jones did not reveal what schools he received offers from, but said that his offers were from teams in conferences like the Big Ten, Big East, Atlantic 10, Sun Belt and the Big South. These offers were validating for Jones and a testament to his talent and the success he’s had so far in his career.
“Seeing how much attention I got from those schools, it was definitely a confidence booster. People know I can play at this high level. It’s a good thing, it gives me confidence,” Jones said.
Despite garnering interest from numerous schools, Jones boiled his decision to stay down to four factors: his bonds and relationships at American, his defined playing role, the education he’s receiving at American and the proximity to his home.
Jones said that the bonds and relationships he has made with his coaches, teammates and the University community are extremely valuable to him.
“It just didn’t feel right to leave at all,” Jones said. “I don’t want to leave my teammates, my friends and everybody that I know here. I feel like it’s just too valuable. You can’t put a money price on that.”
Beyond the close relationships with his teammates and coaches, Jones had the stability and a defined role with the Eagles, compared to the uncertainties of starting fresh at a new program.
“A reason I wanted to stay was that there’s a lot of uncertainty at these places,” Jones said. “But here at AU, I know my role. I know what I can do. I know how valued I am, not just as a player, but my voice in the locker room. That was uncertain at other places and I got two, maybe three more years left and uncertainty is not something I feel like I need right now.”
Jones, who is studying business administration in the Kogod School of Business, greatly values an AU education and the support he’s received, especially from Kogod Dean David Marchick.
“I think it’s very rare to come across people that will look out for me like the people do here at AU and they happen to be in Kogod, specifically the dean,” Jones said. “I don’t know if I’ll find that somewhere else.”
Only 11 miles away from campus sits Alexandria, Virginia — Jones’ hometown. Being close to home and having the support of his family and local community was another factor in his return.
As Jones enters his third year with the team, he also plans on stepping up as a leader. Jones said he will embrace that role and that it will be an exciting challenge for him.
“I need to fill the void of Lincoln [Ball], Rogers and Colin [Smalls] because they were our voices this year,” Jones said. “It’s another life skill that I say I need to have. Just being a vocal leader to younger guys.”
Jones expects to see big jumps and improvements from the freshman trio of Eric Michaels, Julen Iturbe and Wyatt Nausadis, both in playing time and production on the court. He said they will play key roles for the team next season, especially because they are all still young and extremely hard workers.
After withdrawing from the portal, Jones is hyper focused on winning the Patriot League for the second year in a row. Despite roster changes and losing key contributors, Jones is confident that the Eagles will prove any doubters wrong.
“I’m expecting two things. One: everyone is going to see that we have lost four starters and four very productive guys and we’re not going to be very good. And two: I’m expecting us to be very good, just because of our coaching staff, how they’re able to develop us. They’re just a really good coaching staff,” Jones said. “I think we will be contending again in March and be playing in March Madness again.”
This article was edited by Jack Stashower, Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Olivia Citarella.
sports@theeagleonline.com
NIL
Boulder law firm files appeal of House v. NCAA settlement – Boulder Daily Camera
A law firm in Boulder representing a group of female athletes filed an appeal of the House v. NCAA settlement on Wednesday. The firm of Hutchinson Black and Cook (HBC) is arguing that the landmark settlement, which was approved on Friday by Judge Claudia Wilken in Northern California, violates the gender equity statute in Title […]

A law firm in Boulder representing a group of female athletes filed an appeal of the House v. NCAA settlement on Wednesday.
The firm of Hutchinson Black and Cook (HBC) is arguing that the landmark settlement, which was approved on Friday by Judge Claudia Wilken in Northern California, violates the gender equity statute in Title IX.
According to FrontOfficeSports.com, this is the first appeal of the House settlement. There are expected to be more appeals in the coming months based on Title IX.
NIL
BSB | Madrigal Named NCBWA Second Team All-American, Program’s First Since 2019
Story Links 2025 NCBWA All-American Teams DALLAS, Texas. – Eddie Madrigal was the lone West Coast Conference All-American as he was named to the NCBWA Second Team for his first career All-American selection. Madrigal put together one of the most complete seasons individually in […]

DALLAS, Texas. – Eddie Madrigal was the lone West Coast Conference All-American as he was named to the NCBWA Second Team for his first career All-American selection. Madrigal put together one of the most complete seasons individually in program history, finishing with a .368 batting average, 21 home runs, 78 RBI, a .698 slugging percentage and a conference leading 1.160 OPS.
Madrigal was named to the All-WCC First Team and was a Player of the Year candidate all season long, hitting .396 and belting eleven homers in the team’s 24 conference games. Madrigal was also named the WCC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after finishing the postseason tournament with a .455 average, ten hits, 13 runs scored, two home runs and a team high eleven RBI.
Madrigal played a huge role in the Gaels historic season as they won their second ever WCC Tournament Championship and secured their first NCAA Regional win in program history after upsetting eighth ranked Oregon State. Madrigal became the first Saint Mary’s All-American since 2019 when Tyler Thornton was named an NCBWA Freshman All-American as well as the NCBWA Freshman Pitcher of the Year. Thornton finished his rookie season with a 10-2 record, a 2.71 ERA and 94 strikeouts. Head coach Eric Valenzuela has now produced five ABCA All-Region selections and three NCBWA All-Americans in his eight seasons leading the Gaels baseball program. The complete All-American teams can be found HERE or at sportswriters.net.
About the NCBWA…
There are 17 different conferences and 16 conference championship squads represented among the ’25 standouts. The three All-America squads are also made up of 16 conference players or co-players of the year, 12 conference pitchers of the year, five conference relief pitchers of the year, and nine Division I loop defensive players of the year.
All 84 student-athletes on the teams took their teams to the pinnacle of NCAA Championship competition this spring or helped them qualify for the NCAA World Series. There are 14 All-America stalwarts competing in the 78th NCAA Division I World Series, and dozens of others played in NCAA Regionals or Super Regionals.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association’s official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary’s athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
NIL
Memphis Football Coach Explains NIL and Transfer Portal Challenges | Chris Vernon Show
Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield joins today’s episode of the Chris Vernon Show to talk all things recruiting, transfer portal, and NIL in today’s college football landscape.If you have any questions about how things work for a head coach in college football, he answers them.#chrisvernonshow#collegefootball#cfb#memphistigers#memphis#transferportal#nil Link 0

Memphis football coach Ryan Silverfield joins today’s episode of the Chris Vernon Show to talk all things recruiting, transfer portal, and NIL in today’s college football landscape.
If you have any questions about how things work for a head coach in college football, he answers them.
#chrisvernonshow
#collegefootball
#cfb
#memphistigers
#memphis
#transferportal
#nil
NIL
John Calipari gets 100% real on ‘expectation’ that comes with lucrative NIL numbers
The post John Calipari gets 100% real on ‘expectation’ that comes with lucrative NIL numbers appeared first on ClutchPoints. The NIL era has accelerated recruiting into becoming a bidding war on what schools offer the most money in NIL. The numbers circulating in college basketball recently have been massive, and one of the game’s best […]

The post John Calipari gets 100% real on ‘expectation’ that comes with lucrative NIL numbers appeared first on ClutchPoints.
The NIL era has accelerated recruiting into becoming a bidding war on what schools offer the most money in NIL. The numbers circulating in college basketball recently have been massive, and one of the game’s best recruiters, Arkansas’ John Calipari, recently spoke up about how that shapes the expectations for transfers and recruits who come into their new schools.
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As one of the best recruiters in college basketball and potentially all college sports, Calipari has firsthand experience with NIL. While NIL has not changed Calipari’s status as an elite recruiter, it has emboldened him even more, bringing in top recruits at Kentucky and Arkansas. However, big-time players come with big-time money, and Calipari admitted that he and his staff tread lightly even more now due to that aspect of recruiting.
Calipari was on an episode of Golic & Golic on FanDuel Sports Network this week and elaborated on how they navigate this new landscape.
“Did you see the interview with the Kansas State player (Coleman Hawkins) after last year’s season, where he cried? Cried. ‘They paid me $2 million and I couldn’t live up to it.’ There’s one thing about being the star on any team,” Calipari said. “You guys did it, that star makes the most and, wow, but the most is expected from them. So, some guys in college basketball this year are making between $ 3 million and $5 million. Teams are spending 20 million on rosters. Now there’s an expectation. You better win a national title, or you better be a guy, Calipari said.
“If one of you paid a college player four million, would you expect that $4 million player to drag us to the Final Four?”
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In some cases, the risk might not outweigh the reward when programs like Arkansas basketball offer millions of dollars to recruits. Calipari continued to elaborate on how this is impacting the current recruiting landscape.
“That’s different than a seasoned professional dealing with it. So, trying to keep that away from what we do, but social media brings it right back,” Calipari said. “This guy’s making $3 million, and this is the best he is. So, you know, it’s — I think we gotta protect our kids, but some of it, you can’t. You want to be paid a lot. You’re now a professional. You need to perform.”
Thanks to the House settlement being approved, some NIL numbers should be curbed, and at least the field in college sports should be leveled. However, this new era of recruiting is a bidding war, and Calipari and other coaches need to adapt to navigating the potential expectations that come with that.
Related: Fans debate possible NBA-like change in college hoops
Related: LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson gets brutally honest on Angel Reese relationship: ‘We’re not friends’
NIL
There Looks To Be a Lot of Competition in the Front Court for Oklahoma State
STILLWATER – Steve Lutz and Co. are looking to have some success this season in order to try and have some stability with the roster moving forward in this new era of college basketball with NIL and the transfer portal. Now, success doesn’t/won’t always equal a stable roster as there will always be players who are […]

STILLWATER – Steve Lutz and Co. are looking to have some success this season in order to try and have some stability with the roster moving forward in this new era of college basketball with NIL and the transfer portal.
Now, success doesn’t/won’t always equal a stable roster as there will always be players who are either unhappy with their current playing time/money situation, or any other number of factors which will always be there.

Oklahoma State University Athletics
Robert Jennings II against Baylor last year.
As for this year’s roster, it looks nearly completely different from last year’s as only two scholarship players returned in Robert Jennings II and Andrija Vukovich. There have been seven transfers, three high school players and an older international freshman added. In keeping things with last year and this year different, this year’s roster has more youth on it. So, hopefully with success and wins comes more players willing to stick around after the season, allowing Lutz and Co. to create some stability.
Now, a good chunk of the youth is at the forward and center positions. Lutz brought in two high school bigs in Ben Ahmed and Mekhi Ragland, international freshman Lefteris Mantzoukis and transfer F/C Parsa Fallah to go with Vukovic who has improved physically from last year.
I’ve talked to someone close to the program who believes Fallah to be the main big right now based on experience, fitness and talent. But this summer will hopefully make it a much tougher position as the high school players get into better shape and used to the speed and physicality of the college game.

Oklahoma State Athletics
Fallah in practice.
Fallah checks in at 6-9, 260 pounds and is in Stillwater by the way of Oregon State. He averaged nearly 13 points per game as a junior for the Beavers on 60% shooting from the floor, with four rebounds and one assist per game.
“Parsa’s been great,” said Lutz. “He’s been one of those guys that’s tried to lead. He has an infectious personality, he doesn’t ever have a bad day when he walks in the room, he brings the energy level up. He adds to the room and he’s great. He needs to get a little bit better shape right now, but we expect big things from him. But I’m telling you, I really think that there’s gonna be a lot of competition along that front line. I really do because those two freshman, man, they don’t know what they’re doing yet, but there’s a lot of talent and a lot of ability. Then like you say, Mili [Vukovic] is coming back for his second year, so he’s lightyears ahead of where he was last year.”

Pokes Report
Ahmed on his official visit to Stillwater.
Both Ahmed and Ragland are roughly 6-10 and need to trim up, put on some muscle and get stronger. No one really knows what Mantzoukas can/will bring to the table as he won’t be in Stillwater for the foreseeable future to due student visas being paused. OSU is working with the state government and Washington to get it cleared up.
NIL
John Calipari gets real on lucrative NIL ‘expectations’
The NIL era has accelerated recruiting into becoming a bidding war on what schools offer the most money in NIL. The numbers circulating in college basketball recently have been massive, and one of the game’s best recruiters, Arkansas’ John Calipari, recently spoke up about how that shapes the expectations for transfers and recruits who come […]

The NIL era has accelerated recruiting into becoming a bidding war on what schools offer the most money in NIL. The numbers circulating in college basketball recently have been massive, and one of the game’s best recruiters, Arkansas’ John Calipari, recently spoke up about how that shapes the expectations for transfers and recruits who come into their new schools.
As one of the best recruiters in college basketball and potentially all college sports, Calipari has firsthand experience with NIL. While NIL has not changed Calipari’s status as an elite recruiter, it has emboldened him even more, bringing in top recruits at Kentucky and Arkansas. However, big-time players come with big-time money, and Calipari admitted that he and his staff tread lightly even more now due to that aspect of recruiting.
Calipari was on an episode of Golic & Golic on FanDuel Sports Network this week and elaborated on how they navigate this new landscape.
“Did you see the interview with the Kansas State player (Coleman Hawkins) after last year’s season, where he cried? Cried. ‘They paid me $2 million and I couldn’t live up to it.’ There’s one thing about being the star on any team,” Calipari said. “You guys did it, that star makes the most and, wow, but the most is expected from them. So, some guys in college basketball this year are making between $ 3 million and $5 million. Teams are spending 20 million on rosters. Now there’s an expectation. You better win a national title, or you better be a guy, Calipari said.
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“If one of you paid a college player four million, would you expect that $4 million player to drag us to the Final Four?”
In some cases, the risk might not outweigh the reward when programs like Arkansas basketball offer millions of dollars to recruits. Calipari continued to elaborate on how this is impacting the current recruiting landscape.
“That’s different than a seasoned professional dealing with it. So, trying to keep that away from what we do, but social media brings it right back,” Calipari said. “This guy’s making $3 million, and this is the best he is. So, you know, it’s — I think we gotta protect our kids, but some of it, you can’t. You want to be paid a lot. You’re now a professional. You need to perform.”
Thanks to the House settlement being approved, some NIL numbers should be curbed, and at least the field in college sports should be leveled. However, this new era of recruiting is a bidding war, and Calipari and other coaches need to adapt to navigating the potential expectations that come with that.
Jake Faigus graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022 and has had stops at Catena Media, Playmaker, DraftKings, USA Today, Spike Up, and Spotlight Sports Group. He also writes for Sporting News and works at iHeartMedia in Phoenix.
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