So, the South Dakota Coyotes will now get to pay athletes directly starting July 1, thanks to USD athletic director Jon Schemmel’s June 17 decision to “opt in” to the NCAA-House Settlement, allowing revenue sharing to athletes for the first time.

How does it all work? How much money will there be to share with athletes this year? Which athletes get the money? How much do they get? What does this mean for the major boosters and those who want to contribute more mildly, either to the athletic department or the athletes directly?

Schemmel has the answers in a 73-minute conversation with Happy Hour host John Gaskins. He also addresses the well-publicized shot he took at Sacramento State’s president on social media last week, which leads to a conversation about USD’s desire to stay in the FCS versus the appeal, if any, of trying to move to the FBS like Sac State is attempting (and failing.)

Another major USD issue — attendance. Why does it lag so far behind rival SDSU in football and basketball, and what will it take from Schemmel and others at USD to narrow the gap?

Here is more detail about what you’ll find:

PART 1 – HOW WILL REVENUE SHARING WITH ATHLETES WORK?

Now that the school will be able to share revenue, how will NIL now work for USD athletes who want to make that? What does this mean for USD’s third-party NIL “collective” that was the source to (mostly) keep top athletes or lure in transfers?

How much will it help USD competitively — in recruiting and on the field? Will this stop or limit the transfer portal absurdity the Coyote football team fell victim to in the spring?

And, really, why wouldn’t a school like USD not “opt-in” to sharing revenue with athletes now that they know they won’t to have to make any roster cuts to current athletes? Why was this such a quicker (easier) decision for USD to make than it may be for SDSU and NDSU?

PART 2 – FCS vs FBS, FOOTBALL & BASKETBALL ATTENDANCE, JOHANSEN’S FIRST SIX MONTHS

It was the X (Twitter) shot heard ’round the FCS world last week.

Schemmel fired back at Sacramento State president Kevin Wood, who had publicly called FCS football — where the Hornets reside — “JV” football. When the FBS oversight committee recommended the NCAA to deny SCSU’s entry into the FBS (“varsity”) Schemmel posted something that became hot fodder for FCS enthusiasts:

“All of us JV programs are excited to compete against a varsity program!”

(Since then, the NCAA Div. I council officially denied SCSU’s attempt to enter the FBS on the basis it needed a conference affiliation, which it hasn’t found.)

Schemmel, who has led USD athletics for about 18 months, had no idea the kind of wildfire one public social media sentence would trigger. But he never took down the post and stood his ground in talking about the post in this interview.

This led to a discussion about USD’s desires, or lack thereof, to move from FCS — where the Yotes finished a national semifinalist in 2024 — up to FBS to have a (likely very long) shot of playing in the College Football Playoff and receiving the mother load of money that’d come with it.

Schemmel does not shy away from acknowledging where USD stands in FCS achievement, attendance, interest, and financial strength compared to the Coyotes’ two biggest rivals, and perennial powerhouses, SDSU and NDSU.

Why is there such a gap, and how does USD narrow it, particularly in drawing more fans (and revenue) to the major sports of football and basketball (men’s and women’s)?

Finally, Schemmel gives his assessment of first-year head football coach Travis Johansen’s navigation through spring practice and a transfer portal that plucked away several top players for far more NIL money at FBS schools— also an update on the retired Bob Nielson, who Johansen replaced.

In the age of revenue sharing, college athletic departments need to find more ways to raise money.

More games means more television revenue, and it seems we may be entering the era of more action on the courts and fields throughout the college landscape.

One of the first signs of that came Wednesday, when CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander reported the NCAA is expected to approve an expansion of the college basketball season from 31 to 32 games.  Norlander says the move is being done to encourage even more high-profile nonconference games.

The change would go into effect with the 2026-27 season for men and women after the Division I Council passes the measure, per the report.

There has been a 31-game maximum since 2006-07. Teams are permitted to schedule 28 or 29 predetermined games, plus an allowance for multi-team events (MTEs) — such as holiday tournaments — where two or three additional games could be played.

The length of the season (early November to early March) is not expected to change, so more MTEs are likely coming.

According to the report, programs will not be required to play 32 games but will merely have the option to do so.

Norlander speculates in his report that this may just be the beginning of a movement towards a 34 or 35 game regular season over the next 10 years.

The longer seasons become, the less likely it is that any team will match Indiana’s perfect 32-0 season in 1976.  That’s especially true if more challenging nonconference games become the norm.

Decision on NCAA Tournament expansion expected soon

The NCAA Tournament is likely to expand as well.

According to a report by ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the decision or whether to expand the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments for 2026 “is expected to come in the next few weeks.”

Thamel notes that the expansion would be to no more than 76 schools, which would be a maximum increase of eight new teams from the current format.  He added that the NCAA remains engaged in talks with its media partners over any potential changes.  Like the schedule expansion, the search for additional revenue is a factor.  Tournament revenues are allocated back to the schools.

The last expansion to the NCAA Tournament field came in 2011. At that point, the field expanded from 64 teams to 68 teams.

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Related

Stanford right-handed pitcher Joey Volchko has entered the NCAA transfer portal with a “do not contact” tag, On3’s Pete Nakos has learned. He played the past two seasons for the Cardinal.

Volchko was a preseason second team All-American ahead of the 2025 season and showed flashes of why. He appeared made 15 starts this past year to post a 6.01 ERA with 56 strikeouts to 34 walks across 70.1 innings pitched.

As a freshman, Volchko appeared in 20 games with six starts. He had 53 strikeouts in only 42.2 innings pitched that year as he went 2-1 with a 5.70 ERA.

Prior to Stanford, Volchko played high school baseball at Redwood in Visalia, California. He was a first team member of the 2023 recruiting class according to Baseball America, which also ranked him as the No. 37 overall prospect in the country.

Additionally, Volchko is the No. 15 prospect on Baseball America’s 2026 MLB Draft board. That in mind, he should make a major impact wherever he ends up transferring to.

Stanford is coming off a 27-25 finish this past season and missed out on NCAA Tournament action. The Cardinal now face an uphill battle heading into next season without one of the best pitchers on their roster.

The Transfer Portal for NCAA Baseball

College baseball has two separate windows for players to enter the Transfer Portal. The main window is open now. That’s starting in late May, while the NCAA Tournament is underway, and it remains open for a total of 45 days. The other window that college baseball has is open for 15 days in December.

Unlike sports like football, baseball has unique challenges relating to scholarship distribution that coaches need to manage and could impact players as they transfer. With the house settlement passing, roster sizes are about to shrink.

NCAA Division I baseball teams currently get between 11 and 12 scholarships despite the rosters being more than double that size. It means players receive partial scholarships. That means that coaches need to find a way to balance those scholarships with players already on the roster and who they’re bringing in.

According to On3’s Transfer Portal College Baseball Tracker, 3,179 players have enters the portal so far. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.