With NIL now in play, college football recruiting has reached unprecedented heights. Programs across the nation are pushing financial boundaries to land elite talent. Five-star prospects now draw attention not only for their talent on the field but also for their potential to earn through NIL deals. Recently, one program made an offer that has made headlines.

Kaiden Prothro Reveals Massive Texas NIL Package Worth $500,000

Five-star tight end Kaiden Prothro has surprised the recruiting world by announcing that Texas presented him with an NIL offer close to $500,000. That’s not a typo. The elite 2026 prospect, who is currently weighing offers from Georgia, Florida, and Texas, said most schools are in the same ballpark, except LongHorns.

NEWS 5-star TE Kaiden Prothro will announce his commitment on July 12, he tells @samspiegs

Prothro is down to Texas, Florida and Georgia.

Read: https://t.co/y5JDLXgdZ9 pic.twitter.com/WJNNdgdMYX

— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) June 23, 2025

“I’d say most of the schools are about the same,” Prothro said. “Besides, like, Texas is probably like half a mil.”

Since stepping into the SEC spotlight, Steve Sarkisian has been relentless on the recruiting trail. The Longhorns know that to compete in the conference’s brutal weekly grind, they need elite playmakers, and they’re willing to spend for them. A half-million-dollar NIL offer speaks volumes about Texas’ vision and commitment to becoming a powerhouse.

Prothro is one of the most sought-after recruits in the 2026 class. He is ranked No. 2 tight end nationally and No. 29 overall by On3. His size, speed, and receiving skills fit modern college offenses perfectly.

As his hometown, Georgia will surely become an easy favorite. The Bulldogs have a strong track record of developing top tight ends and winning championships. Their recent success gives them an edge beyond just NIL deals.

Billy Napier’s program is also among his top three favorites. The Gators are rebuilding and seeking impact talent for the SEC, and strong NIL offers might help their case.

College football values tight ends like never before. Programs invest big in players who can dominate in the passing attack. Prothro’s talent makes him a smart investment.

Experts say large NIL offers like this will become standard. With growing revenue, programs can spend more on top players, and the competition for recruits isn’t slowing down anytime soon.

Prothro’s commitment may come at any time around July 12. He’s carefully weighing all his options. The $500,000 offer from Texas has definitely made his choice even more compelling.

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This year, the NBA Draft saw its fewest early entrants in a decade. Just 106 players entered the draft by the end of April, which continues a downward trend from 363 declarations in 2021 just before the NIL era began.

More players are opting to stay in college and hone their skills now that they are able to enter into NIL deals and make money. To ESPN’s Jay Bilas, that helps both the college and professional games.

Bilas said the amount of talent returning to college programs means those players can become more well-rounded by the time they reach the NBA. As a result, both levels can benefit – and it makes the later rounds of the draft a bit more interesting.

“I think what we’re seeing is that NIL and the opportunity to make money while you’re in college has caused players that may have been fringe-first rounders or second-round picks to stay in school longer,” Bilas said on FOS Today. “Why go in when you’re doing so well financially in college? You can wait now and go when you really feel like you’re ready. So we’ve seen, the second round is a lot different with NIL that it would have been in past years, you would’ve seen a lot of players go. And now, they’re staying, and I think that’s nothing but a good thing, certainly, for college basketball, to keep more talent in the game.

“But I think it’s also good for the NBA that they’re getting finished products when they decide to go and players that are really [feeling] like they’re truly ready. I think that’s a good thing for the NBA, as well.”

One of the most notable draft withdrawals was Labaron Philon, who announced his decision to return to Alabama despite having first-round potential and initially saying he’d stay in the draft. On3’s James Fletcher III ranked the former touted recruit as the No. 27 overall player on his Big Board prior to his announcement.

Florida also won big with NBA Draft withdrawals, keeping Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu on the roster after last season’s national title. Former Memphis guard PJ Haggerty also withdrew from the draft and eventually announced his decision to transfer to Kansas State for an NIL deal reportedly in the “neighborhood” of $2.5 million. He was considered a fringe second-round pick.

The 2025 NBA Draft officially gets underway Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET. Round 2 will take place Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

Danny Wolf bet on himself when he made the decision to transfer from Yale to Michigan.

He wanted to prove he could play on the perimeter. He wanted to prove he could play against the best in the Big Ten. He wanted to prove he had the talent to play at the next level.

Jim Harbaugh is entering his second season with the Los Angeles Chargers, but the former Michigan football coach is still supporting the program he took to three straight Big Ten championships and the 2023 national title. 

Champions Circle is currently auctioning team-issued gear that Harbaugh wore during his time with the Wolverines. Proceeds from the online garage sale will support Michigan football NIL. 

“A lifelong football man and one of the sport’s most vocal advocates for student-athlete rights, Coach Harbaugh was among the most prominent college coaches in support of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) during his time at Michigan,” reads a press release.

“Before departing for Los Angeles, Coach Harbaugh generously donated a wide array of team-issued gear, much of it worn by him during his nine seasons at Michigan, to NIL collective Champions Circle. These items are now up for bid and funds from the items will benefit Michigan Football NIL.” 

The auction includes cleats, shirts, jackets and other memorabilia collected during Harbaugh’s tenure in Ann Arbor. Some of the featured items: 

• A team-issued “MICH1GAN 1,000 Wins” bomber jacket given to the Michigan football team after becoming the first program to reach the 1,000 all-time win mark during the 2023 season.
• Autographed “career hat” pack including one autographed hat from Jim Harbaugh’s high school football team, the Ann Arbor Pioneer Pioneers, one autographed hat from Jim Harbaugh’s college football team, the Michigan Wolverines, and one autographed hat from Jim Harbaugh’s second NFL team, the Indianapolis Colts.
• Team-issued Air Jordan 13 football cleats worn by Jim Harbaugh. 

Those interested in the auction can shop the collection by clicking here. Bidding closes Wednesday, July 9 at 7 p.m. ET. 

Champions Circle was the first name, image and likeness (NIL) collective to become an official partner of Michigan Athletics. 

“We welcome the Champions Circle as the first U of M collective to achieve the status as an official partner of the Michigan Athletics,” Athletic Director Warde Manuel said when that news was announced in 2023. “Champions Circle has been thoughtful and proactive in its approach to support NIL activities for student-athletes across our entire athletic department. They have done a tremendous amount of work to properly leverage our marks to benefit our young people.”

Other Champions Circle initiatives have included the “One More Year Fund,” which helped retain Blake Corum, Mike Sainristil, Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan, Kris Jenkins and others for the 2023 national championship run. The “Those Who Stay (Home)” campaign helped welcome the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Bryce Underwood, to the program. According to Champions Circle, more than 11,000 individuals have donated to the NIL collective. 

“We want to thank our Founding Members and others associated with Champions Circle who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it possible to continue our work building championship teams at Michigan,” the organization said.

A screenshot from College Football 26 showing Dabo Swinney’s in-game model sparked strong reactions online. originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is officially in a video game — but fans are wondering if EA Sports has ever actually seen him.

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On Tuesday morning, EA Sports released a much-anticipated deep dive into the Dynasty Mode of College Football 26, unveiling gameplay footage and new features ahead of the July 10 release. Among the biggest additions: real head coaches are now officially featured on the sidelines — a major upgrade from the generic placeholders used in previous versions.

But when the Clemson faithful caught their first glimpse of Swinney’s digital likeness, the reaction was… not kind.

The model, which appeared in a screen capture during the EA Sports YouTube reveal, drew near-instant criticism across social media. Fans pointed out that while coaches like Kirby Smart, Marcus Freeman, and James Franklin bear a strong resemblance to their real-life counterparts, Swinney’s digital double looks like a random character generated from scratch.

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“This isn’t Dabo. This is Dale from Clemson, who eats at the Esso every Sunday after church and thinks NIL is witchcraft,” one user joked on X.

Another fan added, “EA really looked at Dabo Swinney and said, ‘Let’s make him look like a divorced stepdad who sells pest control door-to-door.’”

Others compared the in-game Swinney to a mash-up of Jeff Daniels, Liam Neeson, Bob Odenkirk, and even former president George W. Bush — anything but the Clemson coach fans know so well.

To be fair, the inclusion of actual head coaches — including assistants like Garrett Riley and Tom Allen for Clemson — is a welcome and long-awaited improvement. It adds authenticity and immersion to a franchise that had been dormant since 2013 due to NIL-related legal battles.

Still, many wondered how EA could get Swinney so wrong after reportedly receiving thousands of reference photos from Clemson. “If this is the worst part of the game, we’ll survive,” one fan admitted. “But seriously, they had one job.”

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This isn’t the first time EA Sports has missed the mark with a Clemson figure. In last year’s College Football 25 trailer, a quick shot of the Tigers running down The Hill showed an unrecognizable version of offensive lineman Walker Parks.

Parks, listed at 6’5”, 310 pounds, looked closer to 375 in the game — fans joked he was “one biscuit away” from needing his own zip code. The clip went viral and sparked a wave of laughs and eye-rolls across social media.

Now, with Dabo’s look causing a new stir, it seems Clemson still can’t catch a break from EA’s character modeling team.

EA Sports has yet to respond to the criticism, but based on the flood of memes and commentary, the developers may want to consider a last-minute patch — or at the very least, a more accurate rendering in next year’s release.

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Until then, fans will have to settle for watching “Not-Dabo” roam the sidelines, looking more ready to lecture on the dangers of TikTok at a Rotary Club than lead Clemson into Death Valley.

Related: FSU QB’s Trash Talk Gives Clemson Major Motivation for November Showdown

Related: Clemson Poised to Snatch 4-Star Safety From Jaws of Michigan, Miami

Related: Former MLB Umpire Who Ejected Clemson Star Strikes Again in CWS Controversy

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.