CLEMSON — It all started in an empty parking lot in Florence, South Carolina on October 16, 1931.

After falling to The Citadel at old Florence Memorial Stadium, Clemson head coach Jess Neely, in his first year, Captain Frank Jervey and a couple of others met in a car outside the stadium to discuss ways Clemson could help its football program get back on track.

The meeting got the ball rolling towards the establishment of the IPTAY Foundation, which formally began on August 20, 1934. IPTAY, which stood for “I Pay Ten A Year” was the nation’s first scholarship fundraising organization.

Almost 100 years later, IPTAY is still out in front when it comes to helping Clemson Athletics compete at the highest level. But it does not just pay scholarships anymore.

With new NIL legislation in place, plus with the House Settlement now in activation mode, IPTAY is once again the main financial arm that is going to help the Tigers compete in this new revenue-sharing-NIL world of college athletics.

“We are going to try and meet you and be really transparent and communitive because in the last four years we have been in this NIL collective era,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff said recently on the Mickey Plyler Show on The Roar 105.5 FM. “IPTAY and Clemson have worked a lot with our 110 Society, which is our collective. We have been encouraging dollars there, but we are going to transition the 110 Society to sun set or digest into Clemson and IPTAY.”

How can fans support Clemson Athletics? How can fans give to NIL?

“Now it is really going to be going back to IPTAY,” Neff said. “Our scholarship dollars are increasing significantly. We’re going to be really communitive with our commercial NIL.”

In other words, if someone wants to give to NIL, they can do it through IPTAY. If a small or medium size business owner wants to help with NIL at Clemson, they can now go through IPTAY.

Like it did nearly 94 years ago in that small parking lot outside Florence Memorial Stadium, IPTAY is ushering Clemson Athletics into the future, so the Tigers can continue to compete at the highest level.

Texas Tech landed the No. 1 rated offensive tackle in the country in Felix Ojo, who announced his commitment Friday, on July Fourth, which also happens to be his birthday. The 6-foot-6, 275-pound offensive lineman out of Mansfield (TX) Lake Ridge chose the Red Raiders over reported offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, California, Colorado, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Memphis, Michigan, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, SMU, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, UCLA, USC, Utah, Vanderbilt and Washington. 

The five-star recruit is rated as the No. 5 overall player in the nation, No. 1 offensive tackle in the country, the No. 2 overall prospect in Texas for the 2026 class according to 247Sports. The 247Sports Composite, an average of the major recruiting rankings services, rates Ojo about the same as a five-star recruit, the No. 7 overall prospect in the country, the No. 2 offensive tackle in the nation and the No. 1 overall player in the Lone Star State.

Simply put, if Ojo’s commitment holds and he signs with the Red Raiders, he’ll supplant Micah Hudson as the highest rated recruit to sign with Texas Tech in the modern college football era, and most likely, in the program’s entire history. 

Ojo recently released a top four without Texas Tech in it, but the Red Raiders made a late push and secured Ojo’s commitment. Texas Tech has been on fire this week, picking up commitments from Composite four-star safety Donovan Webb on Wednesday, Composite four-star running back Ashton Rowden on Thursday and now Ojo today.

The five-star recruit took an official visit to Raiderland back in April, which helped the cause. Inside the Red Raiders caught up with Ojo following the visit.

“The visit went great overall and my favorite part was seeing the facilities and touring campus,” Ojo said. “The training room and how top tier it is (was my favorite part), and I talked with Blanchard, both McGuire’s and they made it known I was a priority and felt confident they could take me and make me into a first-round pick.”

247Sports national recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks provided the following projection of Ojo’s potential at the next level and beyond:

“Tall offensive tackle prospect who’s very young for his recruiting class with a July DOB. Verified at 6-foot-6, 272 pounds post-junior season with adequate length numbers in arm (33 5/8) and wingspan (81 1/2). Owns a lean, athletic look and plays with impressive functional athleticism and movement ability. Live evaluation during 2025 Navy Army All-American Bowl revealed a consistent mean streak in pads. Stood out physically, athletically, and in field demeanor despite being among the youngest competitors in the event. Hand placement/technique have improved from sophomore to junior year, along with ability to stand up to POA strength. Gets good extension and uses length to his advantage. Still developing consistent pop; can be grabby, but looks to finish with authority. Plays upright at times and can show more frequent bend ability. Will continue to bulk given immense frame potential. Bolsters athletic profile with discus reps. Capacities for strength and power are high given excellent physical tools and relative youth. Looks like one of the top OT prospects in the 2026 class with potential to become a multi-year high-major tackle with ample pro potential.”

Ojo is the 18th pledge of Texas Tech’s 2026 class joining quarterback Stephen Cannon, running back Ashton Rowden, receiver Imari Jehiel, offensive linemen Jacob Crow and Jerald Mays, three-star edges Tieson Ejiawoko and Demarcus Marks, three-star defensive linemen Ayden Johnson and Krush Johnson, three-star linebackers Cord Nolan and Kaegan Ash, plus three-star defensive backs Donovan Webb, S’Vioarean Martin, Aaron Bradshaw, Noah Lewis, Luke Bell and Maddox Quiller. Texas Tech’s class ranks 23rd nationally, and tops in the Big 12. With the commitments of Webb, Rowden and Ojo this week Texas Tech has jumped 26 spots in 247Sports’ national recruiting rankings. The Red Raiders signed the No. 48 high school and No. 2 transfer groups for an overall national ranking of No. 22 in 2025. 

Caitlin Clark has missed the Indiana Fever’s last four games due to a groin injury. However, the Fever haven’t let Clark’s absence slow them down. The Fever are on a three-game win streak, and recently added to their momentum by defeating the Minnesota Lynx 74-59 in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship.

While some analysts are excited to see how much further the Fever will improve when Clark returns, others don’t believe the team’s recent success without Clark is a coincidence. On Friday, ESPN analyst Carolyn Peck claimed the Fever are “more dangerous” without Clark on the court.

“Indiana is even more dangerous when Caitlin Clark doesn’t play,” Peck said. “Because she’s a ball-dominant guard. The ball is in her hands a lot, so you know what you need to try to take away. But when you look at Indiana now, they’ve got so many weapons.

“… When you have a point guard like Kelsey Mitchell, and Aari McDonald making plays on the perimeter, and a post like Aliyah Boston, I’m gonna tell you: Indiana, they are a threat. And it’s specifically on the defensive end. Stephanie [White’ is so pleased with the intensity that they’re bringing defensively with their length, their switches. They’ve wreaked havoc on their last two opponents.”

Despite the Fever’s recent success, the team is 5-4 when Clark is healthy this season and 5-4 when she’s unavailable. Thus, there’s been no change in the win-loss record with Caitlin Clark sidelined due to injury.

This reality can be interpreted in two ways: The Fever are just as good without Clark on the court, or the Fever aren’t better off without Clark. Evidently, Peck belongs to the former camp.

In fairness, Clark has struggled to find a rhythm this season due to her injuries. The 2024 WNBA All-Star’s efficiency is particularly suffering. Clark is only shooting 39.7% from the field and 29.5% from beyond the arc this season, compared to her 41.7% and 34.4% splits last season.

Nonetheless, the former Iowa standout is still averaging 18.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game this season. With that said, Peck isn’t the only one who isn’t sold on Clark’s talents.

Earlier this week, Caitlin Clark’s fellow WNBA players voted her as just the ninth-best guard in the league. The WNBA All-Star votes are comprised of three groups: fans, media and current players.

Although Clark didn’t receive the utmost respect from other WNBA players, she was No. 1 in the fan vote and No. 3 in the media vote. In turn, she will be a captain in the All-Star Game.

Mansfield (TX) Lake Ridge five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo, one of the top prospects in 2026, made a Fourth of July commitment to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders will now be paying him quite well with an unprecendented, fully guaranteed revenue-sharing deal.

Ojo committed to Texas Tech this afternoon over top schools like Texas, Oklahoma, Michigan, Ohio State, and Ole Miss. ESPN’s Eli Lederman reported that the Red Raiders signed Ojo to a fully guaranteed revenue-share deal worth $5.1 million over three years. On3’s Pete Nakos reported more details of the agreement.

Ojo’s guaranteed rev-share amount is roughly half the $5.1 million, according to Nakos, and the contract pays out $775,000 per year over three years. Including incentives and if the deal is renegotiated, the five-star offensive lineman is set to earn $1.2 million in Year 1, $1.6 million in Year 2 and $2.1 million in Year 3. Nakos added Texas Tech softball helped pull the deal off.

This comes a few days after the House v. NCAA settlement took effect around college athletics. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement back on June 6th after nearly five years since the filing of House v. NCAA. That allowed for revenue-sharing, with schools paying athletes directly, beginning earlier this week on July 1st.

Ojo ranks as the No. 6 overall recruit as a five-star prospect in the 2026 cycle. He also rates as the No. 3 OT in the class, behind Jackson Cantwell (No. 1 – Miami) and Immanuel Iheanacho (No. 4 – Oregon). He is also the No. 1 player in the state of Texas, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Following his July 4th commitment, Ojo becomes Texas Tech’s highest-rated commitment of all time as part of what’s shaping out to be a Top-25 class for the Red Raiders in 2026.

This comes after the spring where Texas Tech became a national player in the NIL and transfer portal landscape. The Red Raiders are coming off of an 8-5 2024 season in Year 3 for head coach Joey McGuire, who signed the No. 1 class in the NCAA Transfer Portal, according to On3. Eight of their 21 portal additions this offseason ranked in the Top-100 of On3’s 2025 Top Transfer Portal Players. Expectations are now becoming more real for the program down in the Big 12, especially if they can capitalize on this season after recruiting success both in the portal and in high school.

For today, though, Texas Tech can enjoy what is the commitment of their highest-ranked recruit in school history. Ojo can celebrate as well with his recruitment ending in what’s reportedly a very large, guaranteed deal for him ahead of his collegiate career in Lubbock.