NIL

Georgia AD Josh Brooks reveals facility projects set to ‘Slow Down’

Since taking over as Georgia’s athletic director, Josh Brooks has overseen a number of different facility projects. From football to basketball, baseball, softball, and track and field, Brooks has been transforming Georgia’s facilities across the board. However, as he works through his fourth year running the athletic department in Athens, he warned that with the […]

Published

2 weeks ago

May 29, 2025

Your Sports Nation

However, as he works through his fourth year running the athletic department in Athens, he warned that with the coming changes in NIL, thanks to the still pending House vs. NCAA settlement, work on facilities may take a step back.

“Honestly, I’m glad we got so much done the last four or five years because it’s going to slow down as we evolve and money starts shifting more in NIL,” Brooks said. “You will see the facilities slow down. Naturally, just because we’ve got a lot knocked off the list.”

When the proposed settlement in the House vs. NCAA case reaches its conclusion, schools will enter into a revenue-sharing agreement with their student athletes. This will call for up to $21 million in revenue from individual schools being used to directly compensate athletes.

With the loss in revenue, schools – Georgia included – will be forced into redoing their budget to account for the revenue that will go to the athletes. Which, as Brooks said Wednesday during his meeting with the media at the SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, may mean the facilities arms race in college athletics will “slow down.”

This change comes at a relatively good time for Georgia. The 2024 athletic year was the first in which Georgia was able to show many of its most recent facility improvements.

This included the completion of a two-phase renovation project at Sanford Stadium, which saw the opening of the 1929 Club, which offered more premium seating, restrooms, and concession stands on the south side of the stadium. The new Sanford Stadium press box opened in the southwest corner of the endzone as well.

The completion of the Sanford Stadium renovations was quickly followed by baseball and softball. Foley Field underwent a $45 million renovation that saw a turf field installed in addition to the construction of a new locker room, team meeting area, pitching lab, hitting tunnels, and coaches’ offices, among other improvements.

Then, for softball, Georgia completed its $38.5 million facility that sits beside Jack Turner Stadium in October. The project provided the program with a state-of-the-art facility, something that Brooks is still intent on providing across all sports.

“One of the focuses for me is always the student-athlete experience,” Brooks said of potential future projects. “I want to go to locker room to locker. room, make sure that we’ve got a couple more areas we need to get touched up. Then I’ve got to develop my team.”

Still left on the to-do list for Georgia is the construction of a new facility for track and field that could wrap as early as the end of the year.

“We’ve got the track finishing in December, January, and then we’ll shift over to the old track becoming practice field parking and all that,” Brooks said.

But just because projects will be slowing down, Brooks doesn’t intend to do nothing. He revealed his intentions to develop a long-term plan for what comes next for Sanford Stadium, something he hopes can be left for his eventual successor.

“We have to develop a plan for Sanford Stadium, not just for my tenure, but I’m trying to think about the person coming after me,” Brooks said. “We want to start putting a comprehensive plan for Sanford together, a five-, ten-, fifteen-, twenty-year plan to where whatever we do builds upon each other to where when I’m gone, the next person comes in and goes, okay, here’s the blueprint and how it’s going to keep evolving.”

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NIL

Jay Jacobs on Auburn facilities, NIL pressure and what still sets the Tigers apart

Former Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs joined The Auburn Undercover Podcast for his biweekly show for a deep dive into how Auburn built some of the SEC’s best facilities—and why staying competitive now requires more than just bricks and mortar. Jacobs, who led Auburn Athletics from 2005 to 2018, said the evolution of facilities is a story […]

Published

8 minutes ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

Jacobs, who led Auburn Athletics from 2005 to 2018, said the evolution of facilities is a story of constant adaptation. “Auburn was the first school in the SEC to have a football building,” he said. “We built that athletic complex in 1989, and at the time nobody else had one. That set the tone for how we’d separate ourselves.”

But in today’s NIL-driven world, Jacobs believes facilities still play a crucial role. “There may be a mindset at some schools that you don’t need to build anymore, just pay NIL and figure it out. But if everyone’s paying NIL, you still need something to separate yourself. That’s where facilities matter.”

Jacobs said recent improvements—from Plainsman Park to Neville Arena—are about more than recruiting athletes. “We’ve all turned our attention to fans. If the fans aren’t there, it’s an empty, hollow place. That atmosphere has to be there for everyone.”

Still, progress isn’t easy. Jacobs recalled pushing for a north end zone project that didn’t gain traction during his tenure. “Obviously I didn’t do a good enough job painting the vision. But thank goodness they’re moving forward with it now.”

When asked about the pressures of NIL, Jacobs didn’t mince words. “I’ve never had a student-athlete demand more money. It’s always been a parent, guardian, or handler. I’ve seen cases where the student-athlete didn’t even know someone was negotiating on their behalf.”

Despite the financial changes in college sports, Jacobs says the Auburn spirit still shines through. “These kids still act like kids. They’re having fun, they’re dancing in the dugout, hanging off the bench. They’re not thinking, ‘How can I get $25,000 more?’ They just love to play.”

Looking ahead, Jacobs acknowledged the challenge of funding athletics once schools begin paying athletes directly as part of the expected House v. NCAA settlement. “Every school is going to have to come up with $20.5 million more, and then it goes up from there. That’s real.”

Yet Jacobs remains optimistic about Auburn’s donor base and approach. “We may not have one mega-donor, but we have a lot of people who care. That’s the Auburn way. Everyone pitches in.”

He closed with a recommendation: a book that’s helped him stay grounded. “It’s called Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table by Louie Giglio. Whether you’re a Christian or not, it helps you catch those negative thoughts and think clearly.”

Listen to this episode elsewhere using these links.

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NIL

The House v. NCAA settlement explained

For the first 115 years of the NCAA’s existence, college athletes weren’t allowed to earn money from their athletic abilities. The first opportunity arose in the State of California when Governor Gavin Newsom signed a statute into law on September 30, 2019, allowing colleges to refrain from denying student-athletes the opportunity to profit from their […]

Published

18 minutes ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

However, it wasn’t until the summer of 2021 that the NCAA changed rules to allow students to profit from their name, image, and likeness — otherwise known as NIL — after the Supreme Court ruled against the governing body.

A combination of school policies and state laws dictates what deals athletes can make. The NCAA has allowed universities to establish guidelines for their athletes in states that do not have laws outlining the parameters for designing NIL deals. Athletes only earned NIL benefits through outside parties, not through universities.

That changed last week on June 6 when Federal Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA settlement, which resolves multiple federal antitrust lawsuits, pays out thousands of former college athletes $2.8 billion in backpay from lost NIL compensation, and establishes a framework for athletic departments to directly pay college athletes for the first time.

Effective July 1, 2025, the agreement establishes a 10-year revenue-sharing model, which will allow schools to distribute up to $20.5 million in name, image, and likeness (NIL) to athletes during the 2025-26 season. This amount is expected to increase over time, potentially reaching up to $32.9 million per school by the 2034–35 academic year.

The men’s basketball roster size increases from 13 to 15 scholarships to be awarded. An equivalency system also allows coaches to award scholarships to more athletes by offering partial awards instead of full ones. For example, rather than 10 players each getting a full basketball scholarship, a team might divide 10 scholarship equivalents among 15 athletes.

Scholarships, which cover tuition, room and board, and other educational expenses, are not included in this cap. Schools can still offer full or partial scholarships to athletes without counting them toward the NIL compensation limit. In fact, the settlement allows schools to allocate up to $2.5 million of their NIL compensation pool toward increasing scholarships and providing additional support to athletes.

NIL payments can still be paid by outside supportive organizations, but if the payment is over $600, it must be justified by submission to a digital clearinghouse managed by Deloitte known as NIL Go in order to establish that third-party deals reflect what the clearinghouse deems is “fair” market value.

St. John’s and the rest of the Big East conference enter this new era of college athletics in an advantageous position over power conferences that prioritize competing in football programs. Most power conference schools are expected to pay out 75% of their revenue-sharing cap to football, with men’s basketball receiving 15%, women’s basketball receiving 5%, and the remaining sports receiving the final 5%.

This will not be a problem for the ten Big East member schools, which either have no football program or an FCS football program that is less costly than their FBS counterparts. Even UConn, which is the only Big East member with an FBS football program, shouldn’t feel pressure to divert much of its cap from its premier basketball programs in order to support football since they aren’t in a power conference and compete independently.

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NIL

SEC, ESPN announce more kickoff times, broadcast windows for 2025 college football season

The SEC and ESPN have released several more kickoff times and TV network assignments for the 2025 football season. Several games were held back with “window” designations for kickoff and to-be-determined television assignments — Early, Afternoon, Night or Flex. “Early” means 11 a.m.-noon Central start, “Afternoon” means 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. start, “Night” means 5 p.m.-7 […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The SEC and ESPN have released several more kickoff times and TV network assignments for the 2025 football season.

Several games were held back with “window” designations for kickoff and to-be-determined television assignments — Early, Afternoon, Night or Flex. “Early” means 11 a.m.-noon Central start, “Afternoon” means 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. start, “Night” means 5 p.m.-7 p.m. start and “Flex” can be either Afternoon or Night.

Full kickoff times and television assignments will be announced on a week-to-week basis once the season begins.

Here’s the updated list (all times Central):

Thursday, Aug. 28

Central Arkansas at Missouri, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network

Friday, Aug. 29

Auburn at Baylor, 7 p.m., Fox

Saturday, Aug. 30

Syracuse vs. Tennessee (Atlanta), 11 a.m., ABC

Texas at Ohio State, 11 a.m., Fox

Mississippi State at Southern Miss, 11 a.m., ESPN

Toledo at Kentucky, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Alabama at Florida State, 2:30 p.m., ABC

Marshall at Georgia, 2:30 p.m., ESPN

Alabama A&M at Arkansas, 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Illinois State at Oklahoma, 5 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Texas-San Antonio at Texas A&M, 6 p.m., ESPN

Long Island at Florida, 6 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Charleston Southern at Vanderbilt, 6 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

LSU at Clemson, 6:30 p.m., ABC

Georgia State at Ole Miss, 6:45 p.m., SEC Network

Sunday, Aug. 31

Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina (Atlanta), 2 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 6

San Jose State at Texas, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Utah State at Texas A&M, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Ole Miss at Kentucky, 2:30 p.m., ABC

Kansas at Missouri, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2

East Tennessee State at Tennessee, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Austin Peay at Georgia, 2:30 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

South Florida at Florida, 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Arkansas State at Arkansas (Little Rock), 4 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

South Carolina State at South Carolina, 6 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Michigan at Oklahoma, 6:30 p.m., ABC

Arizona State at Mississippi State, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2

Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech, 6:30 p.m., ACC Network

Ball State at Auburn, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Louisiana Tech at LSU, 6:30 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Louisiana-Monroe at Alabama, 6:45 p.m., SEC Network

Saturday, Sept. 13

Wisconsin at Alabama, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Oklahoma at Temple, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

South Alabama at Auburn, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Georgia at Tennessee, 2:30 p.m., ABC

Louisiana at Missouri, 3 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

UTEP at Texas, 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Alcorn State at Mississippi State, 5 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Florida at LSU, 6:30 p.m., ABC

Texas A&M at Notre Dame, 6:30 p.m., NBC

Eastern Michigan at Kentucky, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU

Arkansas at Ole Miss, 6 p.m. or 6:45 p.m., ESPN or SEC Network

Vanderbilt at South Carolina, 6 p.m. or 6:45 p.m., ESPN or SEC Network

Saturday, Sept. 20

UAB at Tennessee, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Northern Illinois at Mississippi State, 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Georgia State at Vanderbilt, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 or ESPNU

Southeastern Louisiana at LSU, 6:45 p.m., SEC Network

Arkansas at Memphis, TBA

Florida at Miami, TBA

Tulane at Ole Miss, Flex

South Carolina at Missouri, Flex

Auburn at Oklahoma, Flex

OPEN: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, Texas A&M

Saturday, Sept. 27

Notre Dame at Arkansas, 11 a.m., ABC

Utah State at Vanderbilt, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Alabama at Georgia, 6:30 p.m., ABC

Sam Houston at Texas, 7 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Auburn at Texas A&M, Afternoon

Massachusetts at Missouri, Night

LSU at Ole Miss, Flex

Tennessee at Mississippi State, Flex

Kentucky at South Carolina, Flex

OPEN: Florida, Oklahoma

Saturday, Oct. 4

Kentucky at Georgia, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Kent State at Oklahoma, 3 p.m., SEC Network

Mississippi State at Texas A&M, Night

Vanderbilt at Alabama, Flex

Texas at Florida, Flex

OPEN: Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Ole Miss, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee

Saturday, Oct. 11

Alabama at Missouri, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Washington State at Ole Miss, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Oklahoma vs. Texas (Dallas), 2:30 p.m., ABC or ESPN

Georgia at Auburn, Night

South Carolina at LSU, Flex

Arkansas at Tennessee, Flex

Florida at Texas A&M, Flex

OPEN: Kentucky, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt

Saturday, Oct. 18

Oklahoma at South Carolina, Early

LSU at Vanderbilt, Early

Mississippi State at Florida, Afternoon

Texas at Kentucky, Night

Tennessee at Alabama, Flex

Texas A&M at Arkansas, Flex

Missouri at Auburn, Flex

Ole Miss at Georgia, Flex

Saturday, Oct. 25

Auburn at Arkansas, Early

Ole Miss at Oklahoma, Early

Tennessee at Kentucky, Night

Texas A&M at LSU, Flex

Texas at Mississippi State, Flex

Alabama at South Carolina, Flex

Missouri at Vanderbilt, Flex

OPEN: Florida, Georgia

Saturday, Nov. 1

Vanderbilt at Texas, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Georgia vs. Florida (Jacksonville), 2:30 p.m., ABC

Mississippi State at Arkansas, Afternoon

Kentucky at Auburn, Flex

South Carolina at Ole Miss, Flex

Oklahoma at Tennessee, Flex

OPEN: Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Texas A&M

Saturday, Nov. 8

Georgia at Mississippi State, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

The Citadel at Ole Miss, noon, ESPN+/SECN+

Auburn at Vanderbilt, Afternoon

LSU at Alabama, Night

Florida at Kentucky, Flex

Texas A&M at Missouri, Flex

OPEN: Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas

Saturday, Nov. 15

Tennessee Tech at Kentucky, 12:30 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

New Mexico State at Tennessee, 3:15 p.m., SEC Network

Arkansas at LSU, Early

South Carolina at Texas A&M, Early

Mississippi State at Missouri, Night

Oklahoma at Alabama, Flex

Texas at Georgia, Flex

Florida at Ole Miss, Flex

OPEN: Auburn, Vanderbilt

Saturday, Nov. 22

Missouri at Oklahoma, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Samford at Texas A&M, 11 a.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Charlotte at Georgia, 11:45 a.m., SEC Network

Eastern Illinois at Alabama, 1 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Mercer at Auburn, 1 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+

Coastal Carolina at South Carolina, Afternoon

Kentucky at Vanderbilt, Afternoon

Western Kentucky at LSU, Night

Tennessee at Florida, Flex

Arkansas at Texas, Flex

OPEN: Ole Miss, Mississippi State

Friday, Nov. 28

Ole Miss at Mississippi State, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Texas A&M at Texas, 6:30 p.m., ABC

Saturday, Nov. 29

Clemson at South Carolina, 11 a.m., ABC or ESPN

Georgia at Georgia Tech, 2:30 p.m., ABC

Vanderbilt at Tennessee, Afternoon

Missouri at Arkansas, Night

Alabama at Auburn, Flex

Florida State at Florida, Flex

LSU at Oklahoma, Flex

Saturday, Dec. 6

SEC championship game (Atlanta), 3 p.m., ABC

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NIL

Oregon State Men's Basketball

It’s been a rough off-season for Oregon State Men’s Basketball, with the transfer portal decimating the team and leaving Wayne Tinkle the task of completely rebuilding his starting five. The rebuild is now complete, and now we have an idea of what next year’s team will look like. Here’s the state of the Beavers. RELATED: […]

Published

1 hour ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

So this is rough. Michael Rataj, Parsa Fallah, Nate Kingz, Damarco Minor and Liutauras Lelevicius were the Beavers primary starting five and their five top scorers. Maxim Logue and Matthew Marsh were also key contributors off the bench. Next year’s team is going to be a completely different one. So where does the rebuild get started?

There’s a couple names to highlight here, with Josiah Lake II being one of the most important. Lake picked up a handful of starts for the Beavers last season, finishing the year with 228 points in 772 minutes played. Isaiah Sy also picked up some starts for Oregon State, with 607 minutes and 187 points. That gives the Beavers a guard/forward pair they can start to develop around.

Johan Munch and Ja’Quavis Williford also got significant minutes, and Gavin Marrs, Thomas Ndong and Kaan Yarkut got a decent amount of reps off the bench. We’ll have to wait until training camp to see if any are ready for a larger role.

While they lost a lot in the transfer portal, some big names came the Beavers way. The biggest in the most literal sense is Noah Amenhauser, a 7’2″ center who comes to Corvallis from Coastal Carolina, where he was a full time starter who averaged 10.8 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game.

Amenhauser isn’t the only big body who will be joining Oregon State. Yaak Yaak, a 6’11” center who most recently played for Colorado Mesa has joined the Beavers, as has Jorge Diaz Graham, a 6’11” forward who last played for Pitt. Diaz Graham brings a pretty good three point shot to the team, giving him some versatility on the floor. STephen Olowoniyi, a 6’8″ forward, was a full time starter for Southern Indiana last season and gives the Beavers another strong option at that position.

At the guard position the Beavers added one of their most veteran transfers. Malcolm Christie is a senior who last played for Oakland, and was one of the Horizon League’s best three point shooters. The Beavers have seen Christie in action before, in last year’s Diamond Head Classic Oregon State faced the Golden Grizzlies and Christie scored 18 against them. Dez White, a consistent scorer for Missouri State last season, gives the Beavers another veteran presence at guard.

Lastly, Oregon State has added two freshmen to next year’s squad. Olavi Suutela is a 6’10” forward from Finland who played at the Helsinki Basketball Academy, and Keziah Ekissi is a 6’3″ guard from France who was a junior college transfer from Howard College.

While we have an roster, we won’t really know what the team looks like until fall practices get started. Lake and Sy can be expected to have large roles, but no starting spot is guaranteed, and they’ll be challenged by arriving talent like Amenhauser, Christie, Diaz Graham and White. How this team comes together is going to be an ongoing question for the rest of the year.

NIL

Anonymous ACC Coach Reveals College Football Program That Is ‘Lagging’ in NIL

NC State entered last season as a popular dark horse pick in the ACC, but failed to meet the lofty expectations. After a 9-4 season in 2023, the Wolfpack lost three of their final four games last season, including a loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl. NC State finished 6-7 overall, finishing tied […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

NC State head coach Dave Doeren — North Carolina State Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Texas Tech softball scores three more big additions from transfer portal

Hear Florida softball’s Mia Williams and Reagan Walsh speak after series opening loss to Oklahoma Williams hit a game-tying two run home run, and Walsh collected three hits in the 6-5 extra inning series opening loss to Oklahoma. The Texas Tech softball team nearly won a national championship with a lot of pitching, running and […]

Published

2 hours ago

June 12, 2025

Your Sports Nation

The Texas Tech softball team nearly won a national championship with a lot of pitching, running and defense and a smidgen of slugging.

All of the sudden, slugging could be one of the Red Raiders’ strong suits next season. And more proven pitching is on the way to complement ace NiJaree Canady.

On Saturday, June 7, Ohio State catcher Jasmyn Burns committed to Tech. On Tuesday, June 11, the Red Raiders picked up commitments from Florida second baseman Mia Williams, UCLA two-way player and two-time 20-game winner Kaitlyn Terry and Southern Illinois shortstop Jackie Lis.

Williams and Lis followed Burns in announcing their pledges to Tech on social media, and Softball America and D1Softball reported Terry’s commitment.

Burns hit 25 home runs this season, second in the Big Ten and tied for fifth in NCAA Division I. Williams hit 19 home runs, fifth in the Southeastern Conference and among the top 40 nationally. She batted .335 with 44 RBIs and was second among Gators regulars with a .714 on-base percentage and an on-base-plus-slugging of 1.144.

Lis hit a Southern Illinois career record 44 home runs over three seasons, earning first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference recognition all three years. She batted .356 with 17 homers and 57 RBIs as a freshman, hit .344 with 16 homers and 36 RBIs as a sophomore and batted .358 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs as a junior this season.

She’s a granddaughter of the late Joe Lis, a Major League Baseball first baseman and outfielder from 1970-77. Joe Lis Jr., her father, reached Triple-A with Toronto and Atlanta.

On the National Fastpitch Coaches Association all-America teams, Burns was one of 18 players on the first team and Williams was one of 18 players on the second team. Williams pronounces her first name “MEE-uh”. The Windermere (Fla.) Prep graduate was a sophomore this season.

She’s a daughter of former NBA point guard Jason Williams, who played 12 seasons and started on the Miami Heat team that beat the Dallas Mavericks for the 2006 NBA title. According to the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, Jason Williams “was a regular fixture at games, sitting behind home plate.”

Florida finished 48-17 with losses in its first two games at the Women’s College World Series.

Terry can help the Red Raiders both ways, especially in the circle. In her second season at UCLA, Terry was 20-5 with a 2.64 earned-run average over 33 appearances, including 22 starts. The sophomore lefthander from Phoenix Greenway struck out 172 in 148⅓ innings, also on a WCWS team that finished 55-13. She batted .257 with two home runs, 24 RBIs and was 9 for 9 in stolen bases.

She was the Pac-12 freshman of the year and first-team all-conference in 2024, going 21-3 with a 2.38 ERA.

Texas Tech finished 54-14, made its first trip to the WCWS and lost the deciding game in the best-of-three championship series to Texas. Before the series, Patrick Mahomes gifted the team with Texas Tech letter jackets featuring his Gladiator logo from Adidas. The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Texas Tech alum and prominent fan of his alma mater also made it to Oklahoma City for the championship series Game 2.

The Red Raiders rode Canady, who went 34-7 with a 1.11 ERA. The junior righthander won the Honda Sport Award for softball as the most outstanding college player of the year.

Mihyia Davis, with 27 stolen bases, was one of five Red Raiders to reach double digits in that category. Canady was the only Tech player to reach double digits in home runs. She’s likely to have plenty of company in that department next season.

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