As of right now, the Illinois football team is putting together one of the best recruiting classes of my lifetime.

Over the past couple of decades, Illini recruiting hasn’t been great. Ron Zook had a few special hauls, but beyond that, we had just hoped to pull out a few diamonds in the rough. The Bret Bielema era is different, though.

Illinois currently sits with the No. 11 class in the country for 2026. Getting that high is something I never thought would happen this late in the game. The crazy part is, we aren’t done.

On Thursday night, massive Illinois recruiting target Nasir Rankin took to social media to announce that he was down to just five programs. He also noted that a commitment date and time were in play.

Rankin will announce his decision on Wednesday, May 21 at 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET at his high school, Morgan Park. The decision will come down to just North Carolina, USC, Nebraska, Duke, and Illinois.

Concerns regarding parity within college athletic’s NIL space were raised almost immediately when players began to be compensated for their likeness in July 2021. Many have spoken out on ways to even the playing field between teams and players alike, but no rule or college salary cap has been implemented to aid in their efforts.

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban has been vocal about his stance on NIL in the past. While he has gone on record stating that players deserve to be paid, he also testified at a Senate hearing in 2024 that the rule wasn’t in the “spirit of college athletics” for “whoever wants to pay the most money, raise the most money, buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win.”

In the first few years of the NIL space, Saban’s concerns have truth to them. Some of the most successful programs in college football are the ones with a strong NIL collective backing them. Alabama senator and former SEC football coach recently singled out the Texas Longhorns for being an example of how NIL is tilting the balance of power in their favor.

“You’re going to eliminate 90 percent of schools because they don’t have the money,” Tuberville recently told CBS Sports. “Look at Texas. Nobody’s ever going to beat them again if we allow them to keep going the way they’re going. Again, I’ve got nothing against Texas; they’re going by the rules, but we’ve got to hopefully make it work out.”

Some have argued fact that many of the same schools held a similar hold over college athletics based on their success in the past. These five-star recruits were committing to a school for exposure, reputation and to win games. One could argue these sentiments still ring true, and the difference is that those same blue-chip prospects can now get paid for it.

Now, schools like Texas, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, etc. all have massive NIL collectives backing their recruiting efforts. Reports that the Buckeyes spent $20 million on their roster alone last offseason saw them take some criticism. However, they won the national championship with this model and it doesn’t seem to be a coincidence.

The best players are playing where they get paid the best. It’s not just Texas, who Tuberville singled out in his response, but many other programs who have the money that these college athletes can’t refuse. At the end of the day, like Tuberville said, you can’t blame the program or the players. They’re going by the book.

Now, Donald Trump is looking to “fix” college athletics and is seeking the help of Saban, and Texas Tech chair Cody Campbell to lead that charge. What that will look like, for now, remains to be seen.

NiJaree Canady Lands Record-Breaking New Partnership

NiJaree Canady has officially changed the landscape of college softball. In 2025, she signed the sport’s first-ever $1 million NIL deal, aligning with The Matador Club and launching new branded apparel. The record-setting agreement puts Canady at the top of the NIL charts and signals a major shift in what’s possible for women’s sports.

This player spotlight breaks down Canady’s journey, what NIL means for softball, her record deal, the impact she has made at Texas Tech, and why this deal matters. Want access to more exclusive athlete stories and rankings? Become a member of Extra Inning Softball today.

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The universe of name, image and likeness continues to alter college athletics at every turn. NIL has changed the game.

It’s mostly an incentive by collectives to raise money for the purpose of enticing recruits to sign with a respective school.

Some of these deals have reached astronomical levels, with the best of the best athletes receiving millions of dollars.

But that might change if and when the House vs. NCAA antitrust case is decided, if schools are allowed a revenue-sharing system to compensate athletes directly.

It could also have important implications for the future of NIL. It could include a central clearinghouse to review and assess all NIL deals. But make no mistake, NIL in some form or fashion is here to stay.

And it could remain the same for years depending on the appeals certain to come with the House decision.

Friends of UNILV is the collective for the Rebels, the outside arm that raises money for the purpose of earning the interest of recruits who have UNLV on their list of prospective schools.

Bill Paulos leads the NIL efforts for UNLV. The Review-Journal recently chatted with Paulos about his role and that of NIL at the university.

RJ: What is the overall goal for NIL specific to UNLV?

Paulos: The goal of UNLV NIL is to get into a power conference like the Big 12. That’s the goal. If we want to do that, we need to act like a power conference school. That’s UNLV’s goal. That’s my goal. That’s everyone’s goal here.

But these power conferences need to know we can raise money for NIL, that we can compete at that level.

RJ: Is that plausible? What have you seen in your numbers to make you believe that level of resources can be raised?

Paulos: It is absolutely plausible. We’re having more success this year than we’ve ever had. Major companies in town are supporting us. And in order for us to get coaches of the stature of (Dan Mullen in football and Josh Pastner in basketball), we had to assure them we could raise NIL money so they could compete.

If you go out and hire a coach today, the first question isn’t necessarily how much money they’re going to make. It’s about how strong is your NIL.

RJ: How have you been selling your top programs to donors?

Paulos: Basically, it’s like this: You may not like what NIL is today, but we need to explain to everybody it’s going to morph into a much better situation. It’s giving back to the university through the athletic department.

We know in the 1980s and 1990s UNLV became UNLV because of Jerry Tarkanian and Runnin’ Rebel basketball. The last two years, when we had incredible national exposure with our football team, our registrations with the university went up 6 percent. That’s real money.

Should we get into a conference like the Big 12, we now get millions of more a year through television revenues, and Las Vegas gets a tremendous amount of exposure. That’s what we sell — it’s a major economic benefit to Las Vegas and UNLV.

RJ: What in your mind will change with NIL at UNLV should the House vs. NCAA settlement end with schools being permitted to provide direct financial payments to student-athletes?

Paulos: It’s not going to eradicate the use of outside funds and collectives like NIL in order to help the university raise money. It will just help schools monitor their payments to report outside NIL agreements. There will be more regulation when it comes to NIL deals. I believe you’re not going to see the $5 million quarterback for much longer.

RJ: You earlier said it was a goal to double the $1.5 million raised for basketball last season and to increase the $3 million for football. Will you make those numbers?

Paulos: We haven’t missed yet, and we don’t intend on missing this year. There is new wealth in Las Vegas, small companies that are doing very well. We’re getting more and more people interested in helping UNLV succeed.

You look at stories of (Power Four) conference teams, when their athletic departments became the front porch of their universities. They’ve all exceeded their wildest expectations, That’s our hope — 100 percent.

This is a passion for me and, quite frankly, those we sit down with and ask to donate. They’re doing it to get recognition for the university and to get us into a power conference, Which would mean so much to the city as a whole.

RJ: Has the NIL collective at UNLV gone the way you first imagined?

Paulos: It’s hard to believe, but this is our fifth year raising funds. We have doubled our fundraising almost every single year, and this year we’ll triple it. We give to all sports — any sport that signs up with the collective. We’ll help anybody. You tell me where the money goes. I don’t tell you.

We’re the most attractive person at the dance right now. If you want your athletic department to be successful and competitive and keep moving forward, there is no choice. You have to pay. The horse has left the barn. This is here to stay.

If you want something to happen like UNLV getting into a power conference, this is what you’re going to have to do.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.