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Charlie Baker Q&A

Charlie Baker is at the center of the NCAA’s historic makeover.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff The college sports landscape is undergoing a makeover of historic proportions, and NCAA president Charlie Baker is at the center of the action. In a recent telephone interview with the Globe, the former Massachusetts governor shared his perspectives and offered updates […]

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Charlie Baker Q&A

Charlie Baker is at the center of the NCAA’s historic makeover.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

The college sports landscape is undergoing a makeover of historic proportions, and NCAA president Charlie Baker is at the center of the action.

In a recent telephone interview with the Globe, the former Massachusetts governor shared his perspectives and offered updates on a number of topics.

His responses have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

On the uncertainty in college sports revolving around revenue sharing, NIL, the transfer portal, and federal oversight:

“There’s just so much uncertainty around the construct of college sports that it does make it challenging for people to plan. It makes it hard for people to sort of figure out what the dynamic of the governing environment, both from a legal point of view and from an NCAA and a conference point of view, is going to look like.

“There’s just a lot of stuff going on, and because there’s a lot of stuff going on, it just makes this a challenging time for a lot of folks and any uncertainty associated with a lot of it is equally challenging, right? To the extent we can create certainty, we’re trying to do that. I think the settlement, if the judge approves it, will create a lot of certainty about a bunch of things, and that will be good.”

On that pending House vs. NCAA settlement in the hands of a California federal judge that would provide a framework for redistributing $2.88 billion in revenues to past and current student-athletes, with the NCAA chipping in $1.2 billion:

“I wouldn’t have supported and worked hard on trying to get the settlement in place if I didn’t think it had the potential to create a much-less-uncertain environment for student-athletes and for schools and for programs and for conferences.

“The settlement as envisioned does a few things that I think are pretty important. The first thing it does is it moves the center of NIL gravity away from third parties, who, for the most part, are not well known and not really accountable to anybody, they don’t have to register or report to anyone, and it creates a center of gravity that’s really around the school, and having the schools be the prime relationship around NIL, the athletic development piece, and the personal development piece all where it belongs.”

Charlie Baker has had plenty to juggle as NCAA president.Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff

More about NIL:

“There will certainly continue to be a world for third parties [collectives], there’s no question about that, but there will be a structure now that they’ll actually have to go through. And one of the things that will be possible that we aren’t able to do now is, on an aggregate basis, people will be able to report, under the terms of that injunction, how much money people really are spending on [NIL] agreements. Because right now, there’s no way to validate what anybody says about anything, and I think that makes it possible for a lot of people to take advantage of the substantial data about what’s happened. I think that puts kids, families, and schools and others in kind of a complicated position. So, part of the value of the settlement is rules, structure, transparency, accountability, and a certain amount of predictability that we don’t have. Now, I think those are all good things.”

What the NCAA is mostly seeking from Congress:

“One is to give us some kind of state preemption, because we have so many state laws now that are basically designed to create competitive advantages for the schools in their states. It’s not just an issue around a level playing field in NCAA conferences. There are maybe 40 states with different rules about all kinds of things. Money made from NIL isn’t taxable in some states, or you don’t have to comply with conference or NCAA rules. There’s some states where it’s more like an order that you not comply with conference or NCAA rules. I mean, it’s wild.”

On fighting efforts to allow for more years of eligibility from student-athletes:

“We have a lot of student-athletes looking for a fifth, a sixth, a seventh year — which they’re not getting from us or from their conferences or their schools — that are going to court to litigate that. We’re more than holding our own in a lot of these cases, and I think we’ve appealed every one we’ve lost at the preliminary injunction level. I think our arguments on this are pretty good when they get to the appellate level.”

“In sort of an odd way, this has helped us with our conversation with people in Congress, because we’ve had a number of folks we’ve talked to who have said, ‘That eligibility thing, I can see why you’re concerned about that one and why you might need some help from us to be able to set a standard around eligibility.’

“Because if you head down this road where you basically say the kids can play as many years as they want, you put a lot of roadblocks and barriers to the next generation of young people. It means you’re walking away from the academic calendar, which has always been the whole point behind the five years to play, and you also chip away at a lot of the rules and standards. You start to chip away a lot of the rules and standards we have around academics, which I think makes everybody very nervous, for all kinds of pretty good reasons. So, it’s one where a lot of people in Washington, both members of Congress and their staffs, have said, ‘Yeah, OK, I understand why that’s a problem and why you would be here to talk to us about that.’ ”


Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com.

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Trump signs order to clarify college athletes’ employment status amid NIL chaos

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for in an attempt to create clearer national standards in the NCAA’s name, image and likeness era. Trump directed the secretary of labor and […]

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Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for in an attempt to create clearer national standards in the NCAA’s name, image and likeness era.

Trump directed the secretary of labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of collegiate athletes through guidance or rules “that will maximize the educational benefits and opportunities provided by higher education institutions through athletics.” The order does not provide or suggest specifics on the controversial topic of college athlete employment.

The move comes after months of speculation about whether Trump will establish a college sports commission to tackle some of the thorny issues facing what is now a multibillion-dollar industry. He instead issued an order intended to add some controls to “an out-of-control, rudderless system in which competing university donors engage in bidding wars for the best players, who can change teams each season.”

“Absent guardrails to stop the madness and ensure a reasonable, balanced use of resources across collegiate athletic programs that preserves their educational and developmental benefits, many college sports will soon cease to exist,” Trump’s order says. “It is common sense that college sports are not, and should not be, professional sports, and my administration will take action accordingly.”

There has been a dramatic increase in money flowing into and around college athletics and a sense of chaos. Key court victories won by athletes angry that they were barred for decades from earning income based on their celebrity and from sharing in the billions of revenue they helped generate have gutted the amateurism model long at the heart of college sports.

Facing a growing number of state laws undercutting its authority, the NCAA in July 2021 cleared the way for athletes to cash in with NIL deals with brands and sponsors — deals now worth millions. That came mere days after a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court that found the NCAA cannot impose caps on education-related benefits schools provide to their athletes because such limits violate antitrust law.

The NCAA’s embrace of NIL deals set the stage for another massive change that took effect July 1: The ability of schools to begin paying millions of dollars to their own athletes, up to $20.5 million per school over the next year. The $2.8 billion House settlement shifts even more power to athletes, who have also won the ability to transfer from school to school without waiting to play.

At Big Ten Conference football media days in Las Vegas, Purdue coach Barry Odom was asked about the Trump order.

“We’ve gotten to the point where government is involved. Obviously, there’s belief it needs to be involved,” he said. “We’ll get it all worked out. The game’s been around for a hundred years and it’s going to be around 100 more.”

The NCAA has been lobbying for several years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over this new landscape — and avoid more crippling lawsuits — but a handful of bills have gone nowhere in Congress. Trump’s order makes no mention of that, nor does it refer to any of the current bills in Congress aimed at addressing issues in college sports.

NCAA President Charlie Baker and the nation’s largest conferences both issued statements saying there is a clear need for federal legislation.

“The association appreciates the Trump administration’s focus on the life-changing opportunities college sports provides millions of young people and we look forward to working with student-athletes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress and the Trump administration,” said Baker, while the conferences said it was important to pass a law with national standards for athletes’ NIL rights as soon as possible.

The 1,100 universities that comprise the NCAA have insisted for decades that athletes are students who cannot be considered anything like a school employee. Still, some coaches have recently suggested collective bargaining as a potential solution to the chaos they see.

It is a complicated topic: Universities would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers’ compensation and schools and conferences have insisted they will fight any such move in court. While private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state and it’s worth noting that virtually every state in the South has “right to work” laws that present challenges for unions.

Trump’s order also:

— Calls for adding or at least preserving athletic scholarships and roster spots for non-revenue sports, which are those outside football and basketball. The House settlement allows for unlimited scholarships but does impose roster limits, leading to a complicated set of decisions for each program at each school that include potential concerns about Title IX equity rules. Trump said “opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports must be preserved and, where possible, expanded.”

— Asks the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to “preserve college athletics through litigation” and other actions to protect the rights and interests of athletes — a stance that could influence ongoing lawsuits filed by athletes over eligibility and other issues.

— Directs White House staff to work with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to protect the collegiate pipeline feeding Team USA. College sports programs produce around three-quarters of U.S. Olympians at a typical Summer Games, but some are on uncertain footing as schools begin sharing revenue with athletes and the lion’s share going to football and basketball.

___

AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed.

___

AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports





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Trump signs order to clarify college athletes’ employment status amid NIL chaos | Olympics

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for in an attempt to create clearer national standards in the NCAA’s name, image and likeness era. Trump directed the secretary of labor and the National […]

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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for in an attempt to create clearer national standards in the NCAA’s name, image and likeness era.

Trump directed the secretary of labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of collegiate athletes through guidance or rules “that will maximize the educational benefits and opportunities provided by higher education institutions through athletics.” The order does not provide or suggest specifics on the controversial topic of college athlete employment.

The move comes after months of speculation about whether Trump will establish a college sports commission to tackle some of the thorny issues facing what is now a multibillion-dollar industry. He instead issued an order intended to add some controls to “an out-of-control, rudderless system in which competing university donors engage in bidding wars for the best players, who can change teams each season.”

“Absent guardrails to stop the madness and ensure a reasonable, balanced use of resources across collegiate athletic programs that preserves their educational and developmental benefits, many college sports will soon cease to exist,” Trump’s order says. “It is common sense that college sports are not, and should not be, professional sports, and my administration will take action accordingly.”

There has been a dramatic increase in money flowing into and around college athletics and a sense of chaos. Key court victories won by athletes angry that they were barred for decades from earning income based on their celebrity and from sharing in the billions of revenue they helped generate have gutted the amateurism model long at the heart of college sports.

Facing a growing number of state laws undercutting its authority, the NCAA in July 2021 cleared the way for athletes to cash in with NIL deals with brands and sponsors — deals now worth millions. That came mere days after a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court that found the NCAA cannot impose caps on education-related benefits schools provide to their athletes because such limits violate antitrust law.

The NCAA’s embrace of NIL deals set the stage for another massive change that took effect July 1: The ability of schools to begin paying millions of dollars to their own athletes, up to $20.5 million per school over the next year. The $2.8 billion House settlement shifts even more power to athletes, who have also won the ability to transfer from school to school without waiting to play.

At Big Ten Conference football media days in Las Vegas, Purdue coach Barry Odom was asked about the Trump order.

“We’ve gotten to the point where government is involved. Obviously, there’s belief it needs to be involved,” he said. “We’ll get it all worked out. The game’s been around for a hundred years and it’s going to be around 100 more.”

The NCAA has been lobbying for several years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over this new landscape — and avoid more crippling lawsuits — but a handful of bills have gone nowhere in Congress. Trump’s order makes no mention of that, nor does it refer to any of the current bills in Congress aimed at addressing issues in college sports.

NCAA President Charlie Baker and the nation’s largest conferences both issued statements saying there is a clear need for federal legislation.

“The association appreciates the Trump administration’s focus on the life-changing opportunities college sports provides millions of young people and we look forward to working with student-athletes, a bipartisan coalition in Congress and the Trump administration,” said Baker, while the conferences said it was important to pass a law with national standards for athletes’ NIL rights as soon as possible.

The 1,100 universities that comprise the NCAA have insisted for decades that athletes are students who cannot be considered anything like a school employee. Still, some coaches have recently suggested collective bargaining as a potential solution to the chaos they see.

It is a complicated topic: Universities would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers’ compensation and schools and conferences have insisted they will fight any such move in court. While private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state and it’s worth noting that virtually every state in the South has “right to work” laws that present challenges for unions.

Trump’s order also:

— Calls for adding or at least preserving athletic scholarships and roster spots for non-revenue sports, which are those outside football and basketball. The House settlement allows for unlimited scholarships but does impose roster limits, leading to a complicated set of decisions for each program at each school that include potential concerns about Title IX equity rules. Trump said “opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports must be preserved and, where possible, expanded.”

— Asks the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to “preserve college athletics through litigation” and other actions to protect the rights and interests of athletes — a stance that could influence ongoing lawsuits filed by athletes over eligibility and other issues.

— Directs White House staff to work with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to protect the collegiate pipeline feeding Team USA. College sports programs produce around three-quarters of U.S. Olympians at a typical Summer Games, but some are on uncertain footing as schools begin sharing revenue with athletes and the lion’s share going to football and basketball.


AP National Writer Eddie Pells contributed.


AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.



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Donald Trump issues college sports executive order for NIL

NIL Explained: How College Sports Changed Forever Super Agent Leigh Steinberg breaks down how NIL has changed college sports forever, in an interview with “The Sports Professor” Rick Horrow. SEICon President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday, July 24 that attempts to create a national standard for NCAA name, image and likeness programs. […]

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President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday, July 24 that attempts to create a national standard for NCAA name, image and likeness programs.

The order is Trump’s latest entry into a debate that has embroiled the NCAA since NIL rules went into effect in 2021, ushering in a wild-west era of college sports that has come under increasing scrutiny by local and national legislators.

Broadly focused on efforts to “save college athletics,” a fact sheet sent out by the White House says the order also seeks to preserve and support “expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports.” Most of the NIL money is given to athletes in football and men’s and women’s basketball.

The settlement in the long-running House v. NCAA case went into effect July 1 and allowed schools to directly pay college athletes through a revenue-sharing model.

Trump’s order says, in part, “it is the policy of the executive branch that third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes are improper and should not be permitted by universities. This policy does not apply to compensation provided to an athlete for the fair market value that the athlete provides to a third party, such as for a brand endorsement.”

There has been considerable debate since the House legal settlement took effect about the role that collectives can have in providing NIL compensation for athletes, and how to assess those deals in terms of market value.

In May, Trump appeared poised to create a commission co-chaired by former Alabama coach Nick Saban and influential Texas Tech booster Cody Campbell with a directive to explore and address major issues facing college sports. But there have been no announcements regarding that directive.

This week, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives aimed at restructuring rules around the administration of college athletics passed two committees and is expected to move to the House floor when the summer recess is over in September.

Speaking at a National Press Club event in Washington earlier the day, before the order was signed,  NCAA President Charlie Baker was asked about possible executive order on college sports. He said he was open to ideas, but “our focus needs to be on the legislative process.”

The leaders of three House committees issued a statement lauding the order, but indicating that they plan to move forward with the legislation. While Trump’s order directs various cabinet secretaries to work on various issues, the bill, for example, has antitrust-exemption language that specifically would allow the NCAA, and potentially the new College Sports Commission, to make operational rules affecting schools and athletes in areas that have come into legal dispute in recent years. That would include rules about transfers and the number of seasons for which athletes can compete.

“We thank President Trump for his commitment to supporting student-athletes and strengthening college athletics in the NIL era,” read the statement from Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee; Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who chairs the Education and Workforce Committee; and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the the Judiciary Committee. “The SCORE Act, led by our three committees, will complement the President’s executive order, and we look forward to working with all of our colleagues in Congress to build a stronger and more durable college sports environment.”

The order states that athletics departments with more than $125 million in revenue in 2024-25 “should provide more scholarship opportunities in non-revenue sports than during the 2024-2025 athletic season and should provide the maximum number of roster spots for non-revenue sports permitted under the applicable collegiate athletic rules.”

Departments with revenue of more than $50 million in 2024-25 should provide at least as many scholarships in non-revenue sports as they did in 2024-25 and should provide the maximum numnber of roster spots for non-revenue sports.

Departments with $50 million or less in 2024-25 “should not disproportionately reduce scholarship opportunities or roster spots for sports based on the revenue that the sport generates.”

Under the House settlement, the NCAA’s sport-by-sport scholarship limits were replaced by sport-by-sport roster limits. Many top-revenue schools have been planning to add scholarships in a variety of sports. They also have been dealing with the prospect of having to cut athletes because of the roster limits.

The order directs the Education Secretary, “in consultation with” the Attorney General, the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission chair to advance the order’s policies.

It also directs the Labor Secretary and the National Labor Relations Board to “determine and implement the appropriate measures with respect to clarifying the status of collegiate athletes”. The House bill would prevent college athletes from being employees of their school, conferences or athletic associations.

However, backers of the House bill already had been struggling to find support from Democrats, several of whom criticized the measure after it passed the two commitees on July 23. And that task didn’t get any easier on July 24, when Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., was involved in the re-introduction of two bills. Along with Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., he announced a bill that would help athletes with NIL deals in a variety of ways, including making easier for foreign athletes to make NIL deals in the United States.

Later in the day — but before Trump’s order — Murphy unveiled an effort with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., that would make athletes school employees under the National Labor Relations Act and give them the right to organize and collectively bargain. That announcement carried a headline that began: “As Trump, Congressional Republicans Side With NCAA Bosses …”

Murphy’s announcement said this effort had the backing of eight House Democrats and multiple labor unions, including major pro sports players’ associations.

(This story was updated with new information.)



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How UCLA landed Nico Iamaleava — and is banking its rebrand on college football’s lightning rod

On a typical sunny morning in late April, the UCLA Bruins began their last week of spring practice. Almost every other football program in the country had already wrapped up spring ball. But the Bruins, a team trying to replace 42 seniors after a 5-7 season, were still at it. Quarterbacks who had never thrown […]

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On a typical sunny morning in late April, the UCLA Bruins began their last week of spring practice. Almost every other football program in the country had already wrapped up spring ball. But the Bruins, a team trying to replace 42 seniors after a 5-7 season, were still at it.

Quarterbacks who had never thrown a pass in college took reps in a new system. Others were rehabbing injuries on the sidelines. Calling the vibe on the field “low-wattage” felt, that morning, like an oversell.

Khary Darlington, the Bruins’ general manager, paced around the field, talking with folks observing practice. Second-year head coach DeShaun Foster brought him on board this year, one of a dozen new staffers to the program.

At 9:20 a.m., Darlington broke away from those he was chatting up on the sidelines, a grin on his face. He knew a very significant moment for UCLA football was about to happen.

“Excuse me,” Darlington said. “The Eagle has landed.”

And with that, the GM hustled toward the door to the Bruins’ facility to greet some important guests: Nico Iamaleava — UCLA’s biggest get in years — had made his first appearance in Westwood.

The energy at practice immediately changed. The players felt it. Coaches felt it.

Practice did continue, but a trio of defensive backs wandered from the sideline of the drill to see the 6-foot-6 quarterback in the gray jacket and white sweatpants. “Bro, I was just talking about you!” one of them excitedly told Iamaleava.

“You saw a reaction from everybody,” Darlington said. “It was almost like everybody’s back straightened up: ‘Ohhh, shoot, Nico’s here!’ Being a local guy, there are so many people on the team already that he knew, there was this excitement: ‘Wow, we have a real guy on campus that can be a real big difference-maker for us.’”

Darlington, a longtime NFL scout who played a key role in the Carolina Panthers’ evaluation of Cam Newton, has learned quickly that his job is much different from his NFL counterparts.

In the NFL, the role of evaluating talent and a player’s worth is primarily focused on what he brings to the team on the field and as a leader. In college, Darlington said, it’s those things, plus “the currency that it buys you with reputation and the recruiting value that he may have,” and the momentum a player can spark.

And that’s exactly what UCLA is hoping Iamaleava will bring to a rebranding Bruins program.

For Iamaleava, UCLA feels like an ideal fit. That all starts with being close to his family again, he told The Athletic, but also the connection he felt with Foster and the staff. “I really believe in what Coach Fos has going,” he said. “I think he’s building something special here, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Iamaleava, a Long Beach, Calif., native who grew up 30 miles from UCLA, committed to Tennessee in March 2022 after signing a name, image and likeness deal that paid him more than $8 million over four years. As a sophomore in 2024 — his first season as the Volunteers’  starter — he helped Tennessee to a 10-3 record and a College Football Playoff appearance. He threw for 2,616 yards and 19 touchdowns with five interceptions, plus three running touchdowns.

But Tennessee’s offense wasn’t as explosive as it had been in previous seasons, ranking No. 13 in the SEC in pass plays of 30 yards or longer. The Vols were led by a top-five defense that held its first nine opponents to 19 points or less. Coming off its first Playoff appearance in school history, Tennessee needed to replace the nucleus of last year’s offensive line, as well as leading rusher Dylan Sampson and its top three receivers.

Iamaleava seemed like its one sure thing.

But on April 10, two days before Tennessee’s spring game, On3 reported that Iamaleava and the program were working toward a new contract. The story made public some drama that had been brewing behind the scenes with the 20-year-old QB in Knoxville; there had been chatter for several weeks that Iamaleava might look to move on, sources had told The Athletic.

Iamaleava didn’t attend practice the next day, and the day after that, Vols head coach Josh Heupel announced, on the morning of the spring game, that Tennessee was “moving on” from Iamaleava.

The college personnel field has grown exponentially over the past five years, and with that, so has the rumor mill. Most know when a player is available before he is formally in the transfer portal — because if they don’t, staffs know they’ll probably miss out.

The Bruins staff already knew the Iamaleava family well. Nico’s younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, a four-star quarterback in the 2025 recruiting class, had been committed to UCLA for eight months as a high schooler before signing with Arkansas. Foster, a Southern California native and former UCLA star, also knew people close to the family. Getting good intel on the situation wasn’t hard.

“The football community is small,” Darlington said. “You just start to ask questions, is this thing real or not real? But then, word just starts to get around. It’s nailbiting until you know you’re allowed to officially talk.”

And the Bruins wanted to talk. They desperately needed a quarterback coming out of 2024, a year when they ranked No. 126 in scoring and No. 95 in yards per play. UCLA scored more than 20 points in only two games. UCLA had brought in Appalachian State transfer QB Joey Aguilar last winter in hopes he could spark the offense, but halfway through spring, Foster wasn’t sold on his quarterback’s connection to the receivers and his film study habits. (He would transfer to Tennessee after Iamaleava joined the Bruins.)

So Darlington took a phone call from a close friend of the Iamaleava family, who said if UCLA was interested in having a conversation, he could help facilitate it.

“That’s what kinda gave us the green light to move forward,” Darlington said. “It was right around that time when Nico didn’t attend practice. Everything ramped up there. He said, once this thing pops off, then I can probably introduce you to the people that you need to talk to.”

“I already know a lot of guys on the (Bruins) team, guys I’ve played with and against back in high school and youth days,” said Iamaleava. “Re-connecting with them has been a fun thing.”

Darlington and UCLA’s assistant GM, Steven Price, another longtime former NFL personnel man, came up with 11 different scenarios of how they could make things work to get Iamaleava.

“Some were a little more uncomfortable than others,” Darlington said. “It was, how do we absorb this without compromising the rest of our roster and our team?”

The other tricky part with portal recruits is knowing who else is involved and how aggressive they are going to be. UCLA had heard that Oregon, for example, was out on the chase for Iamaleava. Same with Ohio State and USC, although the Bruins weren’t convinced of that. They weren’t sure about Notre Dame, either.

“There’s no league office (like in the NFL),” Price said. “There’s no one to ask, how legitimate is this? I think having it both ways is the reason behind the 11 scenarios. You’re playing against the (financially ambitious) Texas Tech mentality, and you’re playing against the wanna-be conservative in how you compensate the players mentality.”


Iamaleava and Tennessee’s split was a major moment in college football’s new era. (Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)

In the meantime, reports out of Knoxville were that Iamaleava’s representatives, including his father, Nic (The Athletic had been told in April that Nico does not have an agent), had reached out to Tennessee’s NIL collective in late December to up the quarterback’s pay for 2025 around $4 million, which would be more than the $2.2 million that he was expected to receive. The Athletic reported then that the quarterback was not looking for $4 million.

The fact that UCLA was in the middle of the story seemed like a head-scratcher. It was no secret the Bruins had been slow in the NIL space. Sources familiar with the Bruins’ NIL situation told The Athletic that UCLA’s NIL budget last year was $8 million-$10 million, likely putting the Bruins in the bottom half of Power 4 programs. Foster, though, has been able to generate money, pointing to last season’s three-game winning streak as a turning point.

UCLA bringing in Iamaleava, and the situation with transfer wideout Kaedin Robinson — who made public record his $500,000 NIL deal in an effort to successfully sue the NCAA for eligibility this season — signals that the Bruins, who went 3-6 in league play in their first year in the Big Ten, are now in the game.

“It is what it is,” Foster said. “It’s the game. It’s not just us. The conference that we’re in has won the last two national championships. So for us to compete, we gotta compete.”

And they were going to compete for Iamaleava.

UCLA sought to understand what happened with Iamaleava and Tennessee. The holdout before Tennessee’s spring game was a major moment in a changing sport.

“Today’s landscape of college football is different than what it has been. And, you know, it’s unfortunate, just the situation and where we’re at with Nico,” Heupel said at the time. “I want to thank him for everything that he’s done since he’s gotten here. I said to the guys today, there’s no one that’s bigger than the Power T. And that includes me.”

But, according to Darlington, “Once you peel back the layers, you realize it wasn’t just about (money) at all. This was a big family that did not want to travel all over the country to see their kids play. I think home and family were at the heart of everything.”

“He’s a West Coast guy,” Foster said of Iamaleava. “I just feel like he catches a bad rap just because there was a dollar figure attached to him, and there really wasn’t. If there was, I don’t think we would’ve been the school that they were looking at. Other schools could’ve given him more, for sure.”

Still, UCLA was sensitive to the issue of money. “Money becomes so divisive in the locker room. We did not want that,” said Darlington, adding that the financial details of the Iamaleava situation are “under lock and key.” Media reports that The Athletic believes are credible have pegged Iamaleava’s deal with UCLA at a bit under $2 million.

So on the morning of April 16, when the transfer portal officially opened again, Iamaleava entered his name with a “do not contact” label. By early afternoon, The Athletic reported that he was expected to transfer to UCLA. On April 20, Iamaleava announced that transfer publicly.

Iamaleava said it wasn’t hard to block out the commentary during that time.

“I got my family and the people I love with me,” he said. “That’s all I really worry about. All I can do is go on the field and perform. I’ve never really been that much of a social media guy anyway. I’m not on there as much. Normally, I’m on YouTube or watching movies. I wasn’t really worried.”

Initially, the plan was for his announcement to take place on UCLA’s campus two days earlier at Friday Night Lights, a glitzy open practice the Bruins were staging to attract recruits and alumni. But Foster reconsidered because he thought it might take away from the players already on the roster.

And so Iamaleava made his debut that spring practice morning, flipping the energy of the practice on its head.

Iamaleava’s arrival sparked a flurry of commitments over the next two months. The Bruins added 14 transfers, including Cal’s Jaivian Thomas, one of the top-ranked running backs in the portal. They got commitments from four four-star high school linemen, moving UCLA’s recruiting class up to No. 21 in the country. In the previous two years, UCLA signed three four-stars combined.

Darlington said there was so much interest in playing with Iamaleava, “the discounts started happening. Like if their price-point was at 6, and we were at $400,000, they were willing to do it. We lost out on probably three wide receivers because the school we were competing with came back and doubled the money.”

Since arriving home, Iamaleava has had to scramble to learn a new offense. Foster fired last year’s offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and replaced him with Indiana assistant Tino Sunseri. Iamaleava’s younger brother, Madden, has also transferred home to UCLA from Arkansas, causing his own contract issues.

Foster has loved what he’s seen and heard from Iamaleava so far.

“Nico’s arm talent is crazy, and to be 6-6, he’s very athletic,” Foster said. “He also has such composure. He’s very similar to Tua (Tagovailoa) personality-wise; he’s reserved but a leader. I think being home and being around these kids that he’s known has helped him too.”

“I want to bring championships back to Westwood,” said Iamaleava. “I know every guy in the locker room believes that. We’ve got a chip on our shoulder.”

(Photo: Keith Birmingham / MediaNews Group / Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)



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President Donald J. Trump Saves College Sports – The White House

SAVING COLLEGE SPORTS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to protect student-athletes and collegiate athletic scholarships and opportunities, including in Olympic and non-revenue programs, and the unique American institution of college sports. The Order requires the preservation and, where possible, expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and […]

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SAVING COLLEGE SPORTS: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to protect student-athletes and collegiate athletic scholarships and opportunities, including in Olympic and non-revenue programs, and the unique American institution of college sports.

  • The Order requires the preservation and, where possible, expansion of opportunities for scholarships and collegiate athletic competition in women’s and non-revenue sports.
  • The Order prohibits third-party, pay-for-play payments to collegiate athletes.  This does not apply to legitimate, fair-market-value compensation that a third party provides to an athlete, such as for a brand endorsement.
  • The Order provides that any revenue-sharing permitted between universities and collegiate athletes should be implemented in a manner that protects women’s and non-revenue sports.
  • The Order directs the Secretary of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of student-athletes in order to preserve non-revenue sports and the irreplaceable educational and developmental opportunities that college sports provide.
  • The Order directs the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission to take appropriate actions to protect student-athletes’ rights and safeguard the long-term stability of college athletics from endless, debilitating antitrust and other legal challenges.
  • The Order directs the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison to consult with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams and other organizations to protect the role of college athletics in developing world-class American athletes.

RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLEGE SPORTS: President Trump recognizes the critical role of college sports in fostering leadership, education, and community pride, the need to address urgent threats to its future, including endless litigation seeking to eliminate the basic rules of college sports, escalating private-donor pay-for-play payments in football and basketball that divert resources from other sports and reduce competitive balance, and the commonsense reality that college sports are different than professional sports.

  • College sports, a uniquely American institution, support over 500,000 student-athletes with nearly $4 billion in scholarships annually, forging America’s future leaders, driving local economies and shaping national culture.
  • The collegiate athletic system produced 75% of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team and has yielded countless business and civic leaders.
  • Recent litigation, including a 2021 Supreme court ruling on name, image, and likeness (NIL) payments and subsequent cases dismantling NCAA transfer and recruiting rules, has created a chaotic environment that threatens the financial and structural viability of college athletics.
    • Ongoing lawsuits seek to tear down the foundational elements of college sports that distinguish it from professional sports and protect non-revenue sports, such as that student-athletes are different than professional employees and that there are limits on how many seasons student-athletes can play.
  • The lack of enforceable rules has turned what were supposed to be legitimate, third-party NIL opportunities for players into pay-for-play bidding wars amongst university boosters, with some universities and their outside supporters reportedly spending more than $50 million per year on fielding rosters, mostly for the revenue-generating sports like football.  Football players on one team will receive $35-40 million in 2025 alone. 
  • Given these enormous, escalating demands on resources to compete in the revenue-generating sports, there are serious concerns regarding the future of non-revenue sports, women’s sports, and Olympic sports, as private-donor money is increasingly concentrated in these third-party, pay-for-play deals.  This dynamic also reduces competition and parity by creating an oligarchy of teams that can buy the best players—including the best players from less-wealthy programs at the end of each season, given the lack of restrictions on transferring teams each year.
  • Over 30 states have passed conflicting NIL laws, leading to a race-to-the-bottom that risks exploiting student-athletes and creating competitive imbalances among universities.
  • Without Federal action to restore order, ongoing lawsuits and a patchwork of state NIL laws risk exploiting student-athletes and eroding the opportunities provided by collegiate sports.

PROMOTING A LEGACY OF ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE: This Executive Order builds on President Trump’s longstanding commitment to showcasing American greatness through sports and recognition of its value in forging American leaders and culture.

  • President Trump signed an Executive Order to keep men out of women’s sports, ensuring equal opportunities for women in sports.
  • President Trump played a pivotal role in securing the United States’ bid for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and the United States’ bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
  • President Trump has attended countless sporting events and hosted numerous teams at the White House.



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Trump signs executive order seeking to clarify college athletes’ employment status

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for — attempting to create clearer national standards for the NCAA’s name image and likeness program. The move comes amid a dramatic increase in the money flowing into and around college […]

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President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order mandating that federal authorities clarify whether college athletes can be considered employees of the schools they play for — attempting to create clearer national standards for the NCAA’s name image and likeness program.

The move comes amid a dramatic increase in the money flowing into and around college athletics. It also follows key court victories won by current and former athletes angry that they were barred for decades, both from earning income based on their celebrity and from sharing in the billions of revenue they helped generate.

Facing a growing number of state laws undercutting its authority, the NCAA in July 2021 cleared the way for athletes to cash in with name, image and likeness deals with brands and sponsors.

That came mere days after a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court that found the NCAA cannot impose caps on education-related benefits schools provide to their athletes because such limits violate antitrust law.

Trump’s action directs the secretary of labor and the National Labor Relations Board to clarify the status of collegiate athletes through guidance or rules “that will maximize the educational benefits and opportunities provided by higher education institutions through athletics.”

The NCAA’s embrace of NIL deals set the stage for another massive change that took effect July 1: The ability of schools to begin paying millions of dollars to their own athletes, up to $20.5 million per school over the next year. The $2.8 billion House settlement shifts even more power to college athletes, who have also won the ability to transfer from school to school without waiting to play.

The NCAA has been lobbying for several years for limited antitrust protection to keep some kind of control over this new landscape — and avoid more crippling lawsuits — but a handful of bills have gone nowhere in Congress.

The 1,100 universities that comprise the NCAA have insisted for decades that athletes are students who cannot be considered anything like a school employee.

This stance has long been a part of the amateur model at the heart of college athletics, but that model is rapidly being replaced by a more professional structure fed by money that is coming from donors, brands and now the schools themselves.

Some coaches have even suggested collective bargaining is a potential solution to the chaos they see.

It is a complicated topic: Universities would become responsible for paying wages, benefits, and workers’ compensation and schools and conferences have insisted they will fight any such move in court (some already have).

While private institutions fall under the National Labor Relations Board, public universities must follow labor laws that vary from state to state and it’s worth noting that virtually every state in the South has “right to work” laws that present challenges for unions.



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