Eight Big 12 head coaches during yesterday’s football media days said that the “Wild West” of player payment in college sports “remains wild,” according to Ross Dellenger of YAHOO SPORTS. Some coaches believe that schools are “making big enough contract offers to recruits that they cannot possibly remain under college football’s new compensation cap.” Others are “guaranteeing third-party NIL deals as part of the total compensation package to athletes — something against new revenue-share rules.” Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield said, “I don’t understand what rules everybody is playing by. The whole point of this was for us all to be playing by the same rules, but we are not.” Sources said that the new entities charged with enforcing these policies, the College Sports Commission and its Deloitte-run NIL clearinghouse, are “bogged down in legalities tethered to the settlement.” Dozens and “potentially hundreds” of submitted third-party NIL deals “remain under review.” Sources said that of the more than 1,200 deals submitted to the clearinghouse, “about one-third have been approved.” About 80 have been denied and “are likely” to be resubmitted, which can happen once. Lawyer Jeffrey Kessler said that “no deals have advanced past the second denial stage and into the appeals phase.” Big 12 coaches said that they are “witnessing schools finding new ways, in the revenue-share era, to circumvent the cap and skirt the rules” (YAHOO SPORTS, 7/8).

BY ALEJANDRO LOPEZ & ADAM ZAGORIA

Fanatics and Fanatics collectibles are set to partner with incoming BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa in one of Fanatics “most significant NIL deals ever,” the company announced on Wednesday.

The deal is set to be in effect immediately and will follow Dybantsa after his college career is over. It includes autographed trading cards, game-used jerseys, inscriptions and will also see the star freshmen be included in Fanatic marketing campaigns.

Dybantsa, who signed with BYU on an NIL deal worth close to $7 million, will also be featured in upcoming new product lines, including “Bowman U NOW,” which will celebrate special moments in college sports.

Dybantsa is set to be one of the biggest names and brands in all of college basketball next season as he prepares for the 2026 NBA Draft.

He was just named MVP of the U19 FIBA World Cup in Switzerland, where he helped the USA win gold.

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Fanatics and Fanatics Collectibles announced Wednesday they’ve signed incoming BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa to a multi-year exclusive deal, dubbing the pact one of the company’s “most significant NIL deals ever.” 

Dybantsa, 18, is a top candidate to become the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. The partnership starts immediately, according to Fanatics, focusing on trading cards and memorabilia and will extend beyond Dybantsa’s collegiate career. 

“Me and my family really just take time with these deals we get,” Dybantsa told The Athletic when asked why he signed with Fanatics. “We don’t just go for any brand. It’s kind of more than just the brand itself. It’s kind of who’s running it, who’s behind it. We’re big family people, so how the brand is like a family connection, and we think we met those standards with Omar (Wilkes, head of athlete partnerships for Fanatics Collectibles) and Michael (Rubin, Fanatics CEO).”

Fanatics signing top NBA draft prospects to exclusive deals is a continuing trend for the company, following agreements with Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg. On the women’s side, Fanatics also signed USC’s JuJu Watkins to an exclusive deal earlier this year. Dybantsa is fresh off an MVP performance in helping Team USA win the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland on Sunday by beating Germany in the finals.

For trading cards, the deal will include autographs, game-used jerseys, inscriptions and being involved in brand marketing campaigns. According to Fanatics Collectibles, Dybantsa will be in a number of upcoming products, among them Bowman U Now and other Bowman offerings.  

Topps, owned by Fanatics, is set to take over the NBA licensing for trading cards in October, taking it away from Panini. This means collectors can acquire NBA autographed cards with team logos and names attached for Flagg and eventually Dybantsa. That wasn’t the case for Wembanyama, whose autographed rookie cards appeared on unlicensed Topps products.

Below is a selection of questions and answers from the 6-foot-9 forward’s interview with The Athletic about collecting, NIL, BYU, and potentially being the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft:

How big are you into card collecting at all? 

I was when I was younger. I used to collect cards, but ever since then I haven’t really haven’t done too much. I liked NBA, NFL, MLB (cards), but I haven’t been doing too much about that. … I probably had a crazy Charizard or something like that. 


Do you see yourself maybe collecting yourself or do you think, nah, maybe not? 

Yeah. I might collect myself.
I can pull for myself. It might be cool. 

Would you go chasing after cards? 
Maybe go try to buy it yourself? 


I don’t know if I’ll buy my own card, but if he was willing to give it to me for free, I’ll take it. 

Who are some of the players that you’ve modeled your game after that you admire and inspire?

My favorite player since growing up has been Kevin Durant. I tried to model my game after various guys, though, like Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Tracy McGrady, now Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander). Just those types of big wings, big guards. 

In terms of a basketball program and a brand, what drew you to attend BYU? 

With the staff they had, (BYU head coach) Kevin Young has coached my favorite player. He’s also coached Chris Paul, Joel Embiid,
 Devin Booker. Those types of guys. My ultimate goal is to go to the NBA, so why not try to get that knowledge earlier, before I get there and try to be the most prepared for when I get there.

How much have you been in touch with people along the way for guidance? 

When I come across them, you know, I ask questions. Our life, we practice a little bit (for the NBA), but nothing has even come close to even starting there so
I’m just excited to play college basketball. I’m not too worried about the whole process. But I’ve talked to guys like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Paolo (Banchero). They shared their experiences going through the draft process.

How do you juggle being a player and then having NIL commitments?

It’s good that players can make money off of their brand. They should have (before recently). I know a lot of players wish that they were younger so they can have the opportunity. I think it should have been applied a while ago, but I think it’s a great add on for athletes, not just basketball, generating however much money from fans, from games and ticket sales and everything. They should get a piece, so this is exciting that you can make money off of your name. 

What are some of the things on the court you could work on? What are some of the things that you really feel like suit you for the college game and for the next level? 


I’ve got a lot of stuff to work on. Just improving my shot, making quicker reads. Obviously, these guys are stronger, older and smarter. So just doing everything quicker and more precisely because this is not high school. 
They’re not going to just let me do whatever I want. …

I’m just getting in shape. 
Obviously we’re above sea level by 5,000-plus feet. So it’s getting in shape being able to withstand playing a full 40-minute college game. Getting used to the 3-point line being farther. Doing everything at a faster pace on a college level.

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(Top photo: Soobum Im/Getty Images)

WHAT IT MEANS

The House settlement was approved by U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken on June 6, and it brings significant changes to college athletics by addressing three antitrust lawsuits brought against the NCAA.

Under House, the NCAA and major conferences will send $2.78 billion in backpay over the next 10 years to former college athletes who competed between June 2016 and September 2024, but were denied NIL earnings. Think players like Sam Apuzzo, Matt Rambo, Izzy Scane and Pat Spencer.

Schools now can begin directly compensating their student-athletes through revenue sharing, with that compensation pool capped at around $20.5 million in 2025-2026. The pool is set to increase 4 percent annually for the next 10 years. It’s designed to help schools pay student-athletes for revenue they help generate and dissuade the pay-for-play NIL deals through collectives that had become commonplace since 2021.

NIL deals aren’t going away, but there’s a new process designed to legitimize them. Student-athletes must create an account and report every deal valued at more than $600 to the new online platform, NIL Go, set up by accounting firm Deloitte.

Each deal’s “fair market value” will be vetted and any deal not cleared can be modified or canceled, or a student-athlete can request neutral arbitration. Keeping an uncleared deal could affect eligibility.

A new entity, the College Sports Commission, is charged with monitoring and enforcing compliance in revenue sharing, NIL deals and roster limits.

LIMITED ROSTERS, UNLIMITED SCHOLARSHIPS

Roster limits are a key piece of the settlement. Previously, sports had unlimited rosters but limited scholarships. The settlement sets roster limits for each sport with the ability to offer a scholarship to every student-athlete on a team. Women’s lacrosse will be 38; men’s lacrosse 48.

One of the final provisions that held up the settlement gives schools the ability to retain rostered players or incoming 2025-2026 freshmen that would put them over the roster limit over the next four years. Players who would have been cut under the new roster limits had to be identified “in good faith” as Designated Student-Athletes (DSA) by July 6.

The DSA distinction is a one-time opportunity for each school but remains with student-athletes throughout their career, whether they remain at the school or transfer. Transfer DSAs do not count against their new school’s roster limit.

WHO’S IN AND WHO’S OUT

Schools must decide annually to opt in or out of the settlement to trigger the options.

“There’s just so much concern financially with making sure that the athletic departments are healthy and can compete,” Northwestern women’s lacrosse coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said.

Part of the backdrop behind that decision is that all Division I member schools are already losing funds as part of the $2.78 billion backpay to former student-athletes. The NCAA will bear some of the financial burden, but schools will also see a reduction from payouts like March Madness and conference deals.

“As an athletic department, you’ve got your portion of the backpay settlement for 10 years, so you’re losing money that you would normally bring in from the conference,” Saint Joseph’s men’s lacrosse coach Taylor Wray said.

The Ivy League and Patriot League have opted out as conferences. They’ve never had scholarships but do offer generous financial aid packages.

“From an Ivy League standpoint, we feel very comfortable because we haven’t changed and we’ve continued to operate in the same landscape that we always have,” said Dartmouth men’s lacrosse coach Sean Kirwan, adding, “With everything changing, it’s kind of nice to be a group that doesn’t have to change.”

By not opting in, their teams won’t have roster limits and their schools won’t be paying student-athletes. Army and Navy (Patriot League) have always been tuition-free because of their military commitments.

“The Patriot League has had discrepancies. Fully funded, not fully funded and the military academies — we’ve always had that,” Holy Cross women’s lacrosse coach Amanda Belichick said. “That’s one of the things that’s unique about our conference. Maybe what you start to see in other conferences is a little bit more of that.”

We know Clemson is all in. Boston College, Denver, Florida, North Carolina, Penn State and South Florida were schools mentioned by multiple coaches as aggressively increasing their support for women’s lacrosse in the wake of the new rules.

“Carolina is going to be very, very competitive in this new market,” Levy said. “I’m not worried about us, but I worry about the sport. It doesn’t help us if 50 percent of the ACC schools don’t match that commitment.”

“One of the reasons I am at Penn State is that they’re all in and they’re going to fully support the women’s lacrosse program,” said Kayla Treanor, who recently left Syracuse to become the head coach in Happy Valley.

Schools that opt into the settlement can pay their student-athletes out of the $20.5 million pool cap, but they don’t have to. It’s up to them how they share the revenue between their sports.

“It’s great that we can pay the players and that they can make an income on top of their scholarship,” Treanor said. “When NIL first came out for women’s lacrosse, it was really to help them pay for their scholarship because we only had 12. Now that number is increasing for a lot of schools. Now this money can go into the players’ pockets.”