College Sports

Donald Trump considering executive order on paying college athletes after speaking with Nick Saban: Reports

President Donald J. Trump is considering issuing an executive order aimed at how college athletes can be compensated after he met with Nick Saban during a trip to Tuscaloosa, Ala., earlier this week, according to multiple reports. The Wall Street Journal first reported news of Trump’s executive order consideration. Trump and Saban, Alabama’s former football […]

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1 month ago

May 3, 2025

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The Wall Street Journal first reported news of Trump’s executive order consideration.

Trump and Saban, Alabama’s former football coach, met Thursday night after the president gave the commencement address at the university. Saban told Trump the professionalization of big-time college sports — with some athletes now being paid hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars — has hurt the enterprise and created an uneven playing field, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, the former Auburn coach, also said he talked with Trump about name, image and likeness compensation for college athletes Thursday.

Had a great conversation with President Trump last night about the importance of establishing national standards for NIL.

College football is the heart and soul of America — but it’s in danger if we don’t level the playing field. pic.twitter.com/GlUycduFxY

— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) May 2, 2025

The White House did not immediately respond to The Athletic’s request for comment.

The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous White House officials, said the president instructed aides to begin studying what could be in an executive order. What that might entail and whether it would provide stability for college sports is unclear.

“The challenge with any ruling or order is that there are multiple levels that would need to be addressed. This is not just an antitrust issue; it’s also a labor and employment issue. It’s also a Title IX issue. There’s also contract issues, right of publicity issues. There’s a lot in there,” said Gabe Feldman, a sports law professor at Tulane.

Trump has already signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports, which prompted the NCAA to change its policies. The Trump administration has also directed the Department of Education to investigate schools, such as Penn, that have allowed transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports for Title IX violations.

“We have seen the president be aggressive in many different areas, including transgender athlete participation, so I don’t think it would be a shock if he tried to intervene here,” Feldman said.

A congressional aide told The Athletic that an executive order might not stabilize the college sports system, which requires legal certainty and a limited safe harbor from litigation. Legal protections and the pre-empting of state NIL laws can only be addressed through congressional legislation.

“We’ve got all these different states making rules about what they can and can’t do,” Saban said last September at a panel in Dallas alongside NCAA president Charlie Baker. “The federal government should do something to create something where each state doesn’t have a different law for what you can do.”

Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a freshman Republican from Washington who recently introduced a bill to disband the NCAA and reshape conferences by geography, told The Athletic last month that he hopes Trump will get involved in the college sports issue. The NCAA was formed out of action by Teddy Roosevelt’s White House.

“I think it’s going to take presidential involvement to get something done,” Baumgartner said. “I think there is an opportunity with President Trump. He obviously is a sports fan. It’s going to take some leadership there because it’s just in so many different committees, and so it’ll be a challenge to (pass something) unless there’s presidential involvement.”

College sports are on the cusp of a landmark change as the NCAA and major conferences await final approval of the settlement of three antitrust lawsuits that threatened to bankrupt the association and leagues.

If U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approves the terms of the deal, which includes $2.8 billion in damages to former and some current college athletes, schools that opt into the agreement will be permitted to share up to $20.5 million in revenue with their athletes.

The NCAA and conferences have until Wednesday to respond to Wilken’s latest order, demanding some changes to the deal. A final ruling will likely come within a few weeks, and most in college sports are still confident she will sign off.

Even with the settlement agreement, the NCAA and conferences have acknowledged the need for a federal law to bolster a new system.

College sports have been in tumultuous reform for several years since the NCAA lifted its rules banning athletes from making money from sponsorship and endorsement deals in 2021. The NCAA has been virtually helpless in defending itself from antitrust lawsuits since a unanimous Supreme Court ruling against the association in 2021 in a case about athlete compensation.

Baker, conference commissioners, athletic directors, coaches and even some athletes have been lobbying lawmakers in Washington to pass a federal law to help regulate college sports since even before the NCAA changed its NIL rules. In recent years, though, the conversation has shifted from paying athletes to antitrust protections, athlete employment and pre-empting state laws, which create a patchwork of rules for college sports.

“I think the biggest thing they’re looking for is the antitrust exemption because then that allows the NCAA to put in rules that allow them to have things like a salary cap and the restrictions on third-party NIL compensation without getting sued for antitrust violations,” said sports law attorney Mit Winter. “And transfer rules as well because that’s become a big thing now, too. Every week there’s a new lawsuit related to eligibility rules, and that’s an antitrust issue as well.”

Only a bill passed by Congress could address those issues. Numerous bills and drafts have been introduced, announced or floated by members of both houses of Congress, and there have been a dozen public hearings since 2020, when state lawmakers began forcing the NCAA’s hand by passing myriad laws that allowed college athletes in their states to be compensated. The four Power 4 commissioners again visited Washington last month to lobby for support.

None of the bills has gone anywhere yet.

“The NCAA is making positive changes for student-athletes and confronting many challenges facing college sports by mandating health and wellness benefits and guaranteeing scholarships, but there are some threats to college sports that federal legislation can effectively address, and the Association is advocating with student-athletes and their schools for a bipartisan solution,” said Tim Buckley, NCAA vice president of external affairs.

Saban, who coached Alabama to six national championships before retiring last year, has often said he supports college athletes benefiting financially from the revenue their sports generate.

“But the system and the way we’re doing it right now, there’s very little name, image and likeness in college athletics,” Saban told the panel in Dallas last year. “It’s just pay for play.”

(Photo of Donald Trump and Nick Saban at Alabama’s graduation: Gary Cosby Jr. / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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College Sports

Daniel Park – Associate Head Coach – Cowgirl Golf Coaches

Daniel Park is in his first season as Oklahoma State’s associate head coach after successful stints at Houston (2021-25) and UTSA (2018-21). Head coach Annie Young announced the hire on June 11, 2025, stating: “I am thrilled to have Daniel join our coaching staff. He is one of the best in the business. […]

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2 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Daniel Park is in his first season as Oklahoma State’s associate head coach after successful stints at Houston (2021-25) and UTSA (2018-21).

Head coach Annie Young announced the hire on June 11, 2025, stating:

“I am thrilled to have Daniel join our coaching staff. He is one of the best in the business. We’re excited to have him and his family in Stillwater.”

Park spent a portion of his summer working with some of the world’s best men’s and women’s collegiate golfers at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-style competition played at Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, S.C. He served as an assistant coach for Team International, which outscored the United States, 35-25, to claim its first win since 2022 and first on U.S. soil since 2020.

At Houston (2021-25):

Park helped coach the Cougars to three NCAA Regional appearances in four years under head coach Lydia Lasprilla. During his tenure, the team racked up four tournament titles along with the two highest postseason finishes in program history. The 2025 Cougars placed sixth at the Columbus Regional (just three strokes shy of an NCAA Championship berth) after tying for sixth at the 2024 Auburn Regional (two strokes back).

Five of Park’s Cougars earned all-conference honors and two more made the Big 12’s all-tournament team. UH student-athletes also excelled off the course, combining for 15 conference all-academic honors and nine WGCA All-American Scholar Athlete nods.

Park was promoted to associate head coach ahead of the 2024-25 season, during which the Cougars tied a school record with three team titles and finished 27th in the final Scoreboard by Clippd national team rankings. In addition, junior Moa Svedenskiold was a two-time medalist and advanced to the NCAA Championship as an individual.

In 2023-24, Park helped Houston make a successful leap from the American Athletic Conference to the Big 12. Svedenskiold became the program’s first All-Big 12 recipient and set a new single-season school record for stroke average (71.47).

The Cougars opened their season with the third-lowest 54-hole tournament total in NCAA history (-48, 816) at the Sam Golden Invitational, helped by a school record 268 (-20) in the final round, and a brilliant debut from freshman Ellen Yates, who fired a 14-under, 202 to finish atop the leaderboard.

A trio of Houston freshmen enjoyed similar success in 2022-23 helping the Cougars return to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2021. Svedenskiold became the first Houston rookie to win a tournament title, capturing medalist honors at the Jim West Challenge, and later landed on the American Athletic Conference’s all-league team. Fellow freshman Natalie Saint Germain tied the school’s low-18 record with a 64 in the Final Round of the Schooner Fall Classic.

In Park’s debut season (2021-22), the Cougars played some of their best golf by season’s end, finishing runner-up at the AAC Championship in Pinehurst, N.C. Three Cougars earned all-conference honors — Nicole Abelar, Maria Jose Martinez and Annie Kim – with Kim landing a spot in the NCAA Franklin Regional field.

At UTSA (2018-21):

Prior to Houston, Park spent three seasons at the University of Texas at San Antonio working with head coach Summer Batiste. The pair led the Roadrunners to five tournament titles, including the 2019 Conference USA crown, as well as two NCAA Regional appearances.

Park coached four different UTSA golfers to all-conference honors, including 2019 CUSA medalist Ana Gonzalez.

The Roadrunners also performed well in the classroom under his watch, earning 16 CUSA Commissioner’s Honor Roll spots, four CUSA Commissioner’s Academic Medals and one WGCA All-American Scholar nod. The program twice earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards after posting perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores in 2019 and 2020.

UTSA earned only the second at-large berth in program history in 2021 and went on to secure a 13^th place finish at the Louisville Regional.

The 2020 squad was on a similar trajectory, winning two of its last three tournaments before the season was shut down in mid-March by COVID-19.

During the pandemic, Park used his downtime to complete Level 2 certification from the Titleist Performance Institute.

In 2018-19, Park helped lead UTSA to three team titles, highlighted by a 12-stroke win at the CUSA Championship. The Roadrunners set the program’s 54-hole record with a 10-under, 854 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Norman Regional.

In Auburn, Ala. (2015-17):

Park came to San Antonio from Auburn, Ala., where he held dual roles as marketing and tournament director for the Southeastern Junior Golf Tour and as a golf coach at Auburn High School.

Park also served as a tournament services intern with Global Golf Management in Opelika, Ala., where he helped promote event opportunities and assisted with general operations during PGA Tour’s 2017 Barbasol Championship.

As a Student-Athlete:

A former standout collegiate golfer for Alabama State, Park helped lead the Hornets to three consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference championships from 2013-15. As a senior, he earned First Team All-SWAC honors and was a Cleveland/Srixon All-American Scholar.

Education:

Park graduated summa cum laude from Alabama State with a 3.94 GPA while majoring in communications and minoring in finance. He was a President’s Award recipient and made the Dean’s Honor Roll in every year of college.

From 2015-17, Park worked as a public speaking instructor with Auburn University’s Communications Department while completing his master’s degree in communication.

Personal:

Park is a native of Kendall, England. He and his wife, Shanon, were married in 2017 and have a son, Lucas David, born in May 2024.

The Park File:

Coaching Experience:

2025-Pr. – Oklahoma State, Associate Head Coach

June 2025 – Arnold Palmer Cup, Assistant Coach (Team International)

2024-25 – Houston, Associate Head Coach

2021-24 – Houston, Assistant Coach

2018-21 – UTSA, Assistant Coach

2017-18 – Auburn HS, Varsity Assistant/JV Head Coach

Postseason History:

2025 – NCAA Championship Individual Qualifier (Moa Svedenskiold, Houston)

2025 – NCAA Columbus Regional (Houston)

2024 – NCAA Auburn Regional (Houston)

2023 – NCAA Pullman Regional (Houston)

2022 – NCAA Franklin Regional Individual Qualifier (Annie Kim, Houston)

2021 – NCAA Louisville Regional (UTSA)

2019 – NCAA Norman Regional (UTSA)

Playing Experience:

2012-15 – Alabama State

3x SWAC Team Champions (2013, 2014, 2015)

First Team All-SWAC (2015)

Cleveland/Srixon All-American Scholar (2015)

3x Letterman (2013, 2014, 2015)

Personal:

Hometown: Kendall, England

Education: Alabama State (2015), Auburn (2017)

Wife: Shanon

Son: Lucas David

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College Sports

Herb Brooks National Hockey Center to be renovated with state funds

SAINT CLOUD — The Huskies’ den is getting an upgrade. The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center is receiving $12.9 million from a bonding bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature on Tuesday, June 10 in a special session. The $700 million package addresses statewide projects using money from a state bond and general fund bill. Aside from […]

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3 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

SAINT CLOUD — The Huskies’ den is getting an upgrade.

The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center is receiving $12.9 million from a bonding bill passed by the Minnesota Legislature on Tuesday, June 10 in a special session. The $700 million package addresses statewide projects using money from a state bond and general fund bill. Aside from the historic Herb, some of the infrastructure projects are in water systems, transportation and housing.

St. Cloud representative Dan Wolgamott (DFL-14B) advocated for the funding as co-chair of the house higher education committee.

“I’m proud of all we accomplished for St. Cloud during the most bipartisan session in Minnesota House history,” Wolgamott said in a statement. “Our key achievements will get more police officers on our streets, tackle the healthcare workforce shortages, attract and incentivize developers to downtown St. Cloud, and provide much-needed renovations to the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.”

St. Cloud Technical and Community College also received $1.3 million in infrastructure funding as part of the bonding package, passed the same day as the remainder of the state budget.

The SCSU athletic department will release a statement on its plans for the investment by the end of the week, according to athletics communications director Andrew Melroe.

The Herb Brooks National Hockey Center was built in 1989 to facilitate the SCSU men’s and women’s teams’ move to NCAA Division I. It now hosts the Huskies, the Division III St. John’s University Johnnies, youth teams and community events. Last summer, it hosted then-presidential candidate Donald Trump for a rally that sat an estimated 8,000 people.

“I think that it’s a humongous victory not just for Husky hockey, not just for St Cloud State University, not just for downtown St Cloud, but for our whole community (considering) the economic benefits that the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center provides for our local economy,” Wolgamott said in an interview.

For several years, St. Cloud State officials have campaigned for state funding to upgrade the original refrigerant system for its two ice sheets from R-22, which has been outlawed for its damage to the ozone in the atmosphere. The Municipal Athletic Complex is upgrading its system to ammonia this summer, part of a $16 million project that includes roof work, new locker rooms and more training and mechanical space.

One difference between the sheets at the MAC and the National Hockey Center is the size of the ice — SCSU plays on the larger Olympic rink compared to NHL dimensions. Most teams, including all of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, play on the smaller ice. Two rinks in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association are bigger than NHL and smaller than Olympic.

The arena had been upgraded recently. Before last season, the video boards and sound system were upgraded thanks to $1.3 million in gifts. In 2019, the school added a new workout room connected to the nearly $20 million addition in 2013 that built a new atrium, suites and locker rooms.

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com

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College Sports

Female athletes appeal NCAA settlement arguing it violates Title IX

An attorney representing the athletes said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education. Eight female athletes filed an appeal Wednesday of a landmark NCAA antitrust settlement, arguing that women would not receive their fair share of $2.7 billion in back pay for athletes who […]

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3 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Female athletes appeal NCAA settlement arguing it violates Title IX

An attorney representing the athletes said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education.

Eight female athletes filed an appeal Wednesday of a landmark NCAA antitrust settlement, arguing that women would not receive their fair share of $2.7 billion in back pay for athletes who were barred from making money off their name, image and likeness.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement last week, clearing the way for direct payments from universities to athletes and the end of the NCAA’s amateurism model.

The athletes who appealed the settlement competed in soccer, volleyball and track. They are: Kacie Breeding of Vanderbilt; Lexi Drumm, Emma Appleman, Emmie Wannemacher, Riley Hass, Savannah Baron and Elizabeth Arnold of the College of Charleston; and Kate Johnson of Virginia. They have standing to appeal because they previously filed objections to the proposed settlement.

Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education.

“We support a settlement of the case, but not an inaccurate one that violates federal law. The calculation of past damages is based on an error that ignores Title IX and deprives female athletes of $1.1 billion,” Hare said. “Paying out the money as proposed would be a massive error that would cause irreparable harm to women’s sports.”

The House settlement figures to financially benefit football and basketball stars at the biggest schools, who are likely to receive a big chunk of the $20.5 million per year that colleges are permitted to share with athletes over the next year. Some athletes in other sports that don’t make money for their schools could lose their partial scholarships or see their roster spots cut.

“This is a football and basketball damages settlement with no real benefit to female athletes,” Hare said. “Congress has expressly rejected efforts to exempt revenue-generating sports like football and basketball from Title IX’s antidiscrimination mandate. The NCAA agreed with us. Our argument on appeal is the exact same argument the conferences and NCAA made prior to settling the case.”

The appeal was filed by the law firm Hutchinson Black and Cook of Boulder, Colorado, and was first reported by Front Office Sports. It would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

College Sports

Female athletes appeal NCAA settlement arguing it violates Title IX

Published

3 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

An attorney representing the athletes said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken approved the settlement last week, clearing the way for direct payments from universities to athletes and the end of the NCAA’s amateurism model.

Ashlyn Hare, one of the attorneys representing the athletes, said in a statement that the settlement violates Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education.

College Sports

SEC communications staff members honored with College Sports Communicators 25-Year Awards

The Southeastern Conference is proud to recognize two of its communications staff members, Jill Skotarczak and Tammy Wilson, who have been honored by College Sports Communicators (CSC) with the prestigious 25-Year Award. The award is presented to CSC members who have completed 25 years in the athletics communications profession and is vetted and voted on […]

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4 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

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College Sports

RPI Engineers women’s hockey schedule released – Troy Record

DANBURY, Conn. — ECAC Hockey unveiled its 2025-26 women’s league schedule, setting the stage for another thrilling season of collegiate hockey battles. The quest for the ECAC Hockey regular season title will take place over the league’s traditional 132-game slate, beginning on October 24 and concluding with the ECAC Hockey Women’s Championships from February 20 […]

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4 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation