NIL

How NIL Deals Are Shaping College Football DFS Strategies

Last Updated on May 23, 2025 The introduction of name, image, and likeness in July 2021 marked a big and crucial shift in college sports. NIL allows athletes to monetize their personal brands through endorsements, sponsorships, social media promotions, and other commercial activities. This change, driven by the NCAA’s response to legal and public pressure, […]

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2 weeks ago

May 23, 2025

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Last Updated on May 23, 2025

The introduction of name, image, and likeness in July 2021 marked a big and crucial shift in college sports. NIL allows athletes to monetize their personal brands through endorsements, sponsorships, social media promotions, and other commercial activities. This change, driven by the NCAA’s response to legal and public pressure, has been particularly impactful in college football, a sport with significant media attention and fan engagement.

According to ESPN, athletes like Bijan Robinson and Kool-Aid McKinstry have capitalized on NIL by securing creative brand deals. Robinson, for instance, marketed Dijon mustard as “Bijan Mustardson,” while companies like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups partnered with multiple athletes sharing the last name “Reese” for unique campaigns.

The Financial Planning Association reports that the NIL market has surpassed $900 million, with football generating a substantial portion of this revenue.

Increased Visibility and Marketability

NIL deals have transformed the visibility of college football athletes. By engaging in endorsements and leveraging social media platforms like TikTok, athletes can reach broader audiences, significantly enhancing their public profiles. A Cherry Bekaert report notes that NIL enables athletes to become influencers, promoting products ranging from athletic apparel to fast-food chains.

This increased visibility translates to higher marketability, as fans and brands become more familiar with these athletes. For example, high-profile NIL deals, such as those secured by athletes like Shedeur Sanders, who could earn up to $10 million according to an X post, amplify an athlete’s recognition, making them household names even before they turn professional.

NIL’s Influence on DFS Strategies

In Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), players select athletes to form lineups that earn points based on real-world performance. The popularity and marketability driven by NIL deals can significantly influence DFS player decisions. Athletes with high-profile NIL deals are often more recognizable, leading to higher selection rates and increased ownership percentages in DFS contests.

For instance, a player with a major brand endorsement might be perceived as a safer or more appealing pick due to their visibility, even if their on-field performance doesn’t always justify the selection. Conversely, lesser-known athletes with fewer NIL deals may be undervalued, providing opportunities for DFS players to find value picks.

These players, often overlooked due to lower public exposure, can offer a competitive edge in contests where unique lineups are rewarded. Additionally, while speculative, NIL deals might influence player motivation or pressure, potentially affecting performance, though this is harder to quantify in DFS strategies.

Platforms like RotoGrinders provide valuable tools and insights for DFS players, including different bonuses, which DFS players can read more about here. These resources help players stay informed about trends, events, and best picks, enabling more strategic decisions when building lineups based on performance predictions. Understanding which players are gaining traction through NIL can guide choices in contests where ownership dynamics play a critical role.

Leveraging NIL-Driven Popularity in DFS

DFS players can strategically use information about NIL deals to inform their lineup choices. By identifying athletes with high-profile NIL partnerships, players can gauge their likely popularity and ownership in DFS contests. This knowledge allows for better lineup construction, balancing popular picks with undervalued selections to maximize potential returns.

The Future of NIL and DFS

As NIL deals continue to evolve, their impact on DFS strategies is expected to grow. The increased visibility and marketability of college football athletes through NIL will shape how DFS players perceive and select players, adding a new layer of complexity to lineup construction. While popular athletes with high-profile NIL deals may dominate lineups, savvy DFS players will seek undervalued players who offer strong performance potential despite lower NIL exposure.

This dynamic underscores the importance of understanding the business side of college sports, including NIL trends, alongside traditional performance metrics. As the NIL market expands, potentially exceeding $1 billion as projected by the Financial Planning Association, its influence on DFS will likely become a critical factor for players aiming to gain a competitive edge.

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New Michigan State AD J Batt’s priority list: build connections, funds

Tom Izzo feels ‘reinvigorated’ by Elite Eight run, MSU basketball MSU head coach Tom Izzo fell to 8-3 in Elite Eight games in a night that was all Auburn from the start in March Madness, March 30, 2025 in Atlanta. J Batt, Michigan State’s new athletic director, faces navigating the university’s political landscape and uniting […]

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June 4, 2025

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J Batt, Michigan State’s new athletic director, faces navigating the university’s political landscape and uniting its power brokers.
Batt’s financial priorities include boosting fundraising, enhancing the NIL structure, and exploring stadium naming rights.
Stabilizing the athletic department’s budget, which has seen recent deficits, is another key task for the new AD.

To say Michigan State athletics is in a transitional and transformative period is an understatement.

It might be the most critical juncture for the school since the 1940s, when John Hannah, Ralph Young and Biggie Munn angled to get the Spartans into the Big Ten.

With college sports at a crossroad between their altruistic past and big-money present, MSU’s new athletic director J Batt arrives from Georgia Tech with a task list that will require a sharpened sense of prioritizing from a host of major needs to move the Spartans back to the forefront in the future.

Batt will be publicly introduced during a news conference at 3 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, inside Breslin Center. His contract is expected to be approved by MSU’s Board of Trustees at their next meeting June 13 in Traverse City.

But as Batt begins his job in East Lansing the week of June 16, there will be a litany of tasks on his agenda before the 2025-26 school year begins Aug. 25, with the football season kicking off four days later. Here is a list of five critical things on the to-do list for MSU’s 21st athletic director (and the school’s first outside hire to the position in 30 years).

1. Learn the political landscape

The prevailing belief is that Batt’s biggest tasks are increasing fundraising and enhancing MSU’s name, image and likeness structure — and they undoubtedly are high-ranking priorities — but none of that gets accomplished without the 43-year-old, who grew up in Virginia, first learning to navigate the tricky political ecosystem that has at times been the school’s biggest roadblock.

Save for a 10-year window of solace and success under Mark Hollis from 2007-17, the school’s internal powerbrokers and biggest benefactors externally often have displayed a bad habit of stunting progress with infighting and insolence. Hollis, along with then-president Lou Anna K. Simon, managed to get those forces pulling in one direction before everything was undone by the Larry Nassar scandal, leaving MSU in limbo and with flagging leadership since 2018. Before their abrupt resignations, Hollis and Simon two also gave the school and athletic program a seat at the head table of college sports with their ability to politic at the national and Big Ten levels while assuaging local political and campus leadership.

Both Hollis and Simon were MSU lifers who knew the history and potential landmines; Batt walks in as a complete outsider, as did current president Kevin Guskiewicz a little more than a year ago. They have known each other for about 25 years, Batt said Tuesday on the “MSU Today” podcast, from his time as a soccer player at North Carolina who participated in Guskiewicz’s concussion research projects before he ascended the ranks of academia.

Building relationships quickly in East Lansing is essential. They will rely on each other’s trust, though both new leaders must lean on Hall of Fame basketball coach Tom Izzo’s 40-plus years of experience at the university in navigating those sometimes-turbulent political waters. But pushing for change as an outsider also can create job-altering friction at MSU. Without the support of the right people, even with a visionary approach, the strongest-willed athletic director can wind up with his hands tied.

2. Touch hearts, open wallets

That also includes connecting with donors.

Finding a way to make both the external NIL collectives externally and internal Spartan Fund financially robust will be a major priority. Batt and Guskiezicz (who in March announced a $4 billion university-wide fundraising effort) are tasked with energizing the donor base that — as is the case at many other universities — is fatigued by the growing need for more money to keep major college athletics afloat.

One of Batt’s primary missions will be analyzing the future of Spartan Stadium and drumming up funds for upgrades or replacement. Departed athletic director Alan Haller this winter said MSU must explore selling naming rights to facilities, a move it previously balked at pursuing; Batt must also connect with the right corporate partners to give his new department as big a financial influx as possible.

3. Stabilize MSU’s spending

The athletic department has struggled to balance the books since before Hollis left and the coronavirus pandemic happened.

In 2023-24, MSU operated at a deficit for the fourth time in five years (under Haller and Bill Beekman before him), with nearly $180.5 million in total operating expenses to more than $163.7 million in total operating revenue, according annual documents filed Jan. 13 with the NCAA and obtained that month by the Free Press and the USA TODAY Network.

The more than $16.7 million shortall came a year after operating at an $11.2 million deficit in 2022-23. The athletic department had a $16.35 million surplus during the 2021-22 fiscal year, but its deficit was $17.8 million in 2019-20 and $15.4 million in 2020-21. The most recent fiscal year report puts the athletic department’s debt at nearly $91 million, up from $68.7 million the previous year.

While trying to get back in the black on the budget, Batt also will have to learn to fiscally manage more sports with the Spartans — 23, to Georgia Tech’s 17 — while being a “fiery athletic director that likes to win,” as he called himself Tuesday on the “MSU Today” podcast.

4. Restructure NIL

With change potentially coming nationally to college sports, getting MSU’s external donor groups on the same page will be essential. The biggest among them who have driven the direction — including Greg Williams of Acrisure, former Izzo player Mat Ishbia of United Wholesale Mortgage, Steve St. Andre of Shift Digital and those within the This is Sparta! collective — all possess financial clout individually. Reaching a higher plateau collectively will be Batt’s mission, using the current benefactors as a starting point to entice more to join, then uniting them all under a new umbrella to prepare for the next pivot when the House settlement kicks in and schools will essentially become distributors of funding.

Izzo understands the need for financing in the new world he’s adapting to, despite winning a Big Ten title while sticking to his principles. And in major college football, the market to pay the NFL-caliber players now required to compete for FBS championships is exploding. That’s just the two primary sports and not taking into account the money needed to pay players in non-revenue sports that Haller left in good position competitively.

5. Focus on future

MSU’s biggest revenue generator remains its football program, and the stadium and on-field product both need refreshing. The excitement of the Mark Dantonio era showed the Spartans still can walk among the giants in the sport, as did the one magical year with running back Kenneth Walker III under coach Mel Tucker that was the outlier of the past decade.

Then comes hard conversations about potentially cutting more sports after Beekman eliminated the men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs in 2021. It is an uncomfortable topic, particularly for a former non-revenue athlete like Batt, who was a goalie on North Carolina’s 2001 national champion men’s soccer team and said he believes in being “in the opportunity business” for student-athletes despite the trend toward professionalism.

And that barely scratches the surface of what lies ahead as Batt leaves the declining Atlantic Coast Conference to try and bring MSU back among the elite of the power-wielding Big Ten.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

Michigan State athletic directors

Charles Bemies: 1899-1900.
George Denham: 1901-02.
Chester Brewer: 1903-10, 1917, 1919-21.
John Macklin: 1911-15.
George Gauthier: 1916, 1918.
Albert Barron: 1922.
Ralph Young: 1923-54.
Clarence “Biggie” Munn: 1954-72.
J. Burt Smith: 1972-75.
John D. Shingleton: 1975-76.
Joe Kearney: 1976-80.
Doug Weaver: 1980-90.
George Perles: 1990-92.
Merrily Dean Baker: 1992-95.
Merritt Norvell: 1995-99.
Clarence Underwood: 1999-2002.
Ron Mason: 2002-07.
Mark Hollis: 2007-18.
Bill Beekman: 2018-2021.
Alan Haller: 2021-May 1, 2025.
J Batt: Hired June 2, 2025 (begins week of June 16).

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Dan McDonnell embraces NIL amid resources fight

Prior to 2025, the Cardinals missed three of the last four NCAA Tournaments. Now they’re headed to the 10th super regional of head coach Dan McDonnell’s 19 years at the helm. Dan McDonnell’s voice trembled, and his eyes welled up with tears. “My wife will tell ya, I’m not easy to deal with,” McDonnell said, […]

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1 hour ago

June 4, 2025

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Prior to 2025, the Cardinals missed three of the last four NCAA Tournaments. Now they’re headed to the 10th super regional of head coach Dan McDonnell’s 19 years at the helm.

Dan McDonnell’s voice trembled, and his eyes welled up with tears.

“My wife will tell ya, I’m not easy to deal with,” McDonnell said, scoffing, “when we’re losing.”

He paused in an attempt to regulate his emotions.

“And the last couple years were rough,” McDonnell continued, speaking from the podium during Louisville baseball’s postgame news conference Sunday. “I mean, they were.”

Prior to 2025, the Cardinals missed three of the last four NCAA Tournaments — a low point in McDonnell’s otherwise impressive 19 years as U of L head coach. College baseball, like most other sports in the name, image and likeness era, has become a high-speed arms race for resources and talent. McDonnell has expressed his dissatisfaction with Louisville’s support in that realm over the last few years, which has correlated with a downturn in results.

He described himself Sunday as having been trapped “in the valley.” But thanks to his wife, Julie, their faith in God and “super players,” McDonnell found a way out and into the NCAA super regionals after an impressive 6-0 win over Wright State in Nashville. McDonnell pulled out a pair of Cardinal-red reading glasses and read an excerpt from “The Path to Higher Life” by poet Andrew Murray

“Down, lower down! Just as water always seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds men abased and empty, His glory and power flow in to exalt and to bless.”

The battle for resources has been a tough one for McDonnell through nearly two decades and three athletics directors. Here’s a look at the current state of spending on Louisville baseball as the Cards prepare for the next phase of the postseason:

Dan Furman, president of the official collective of Louisville Athletics 502Circle, said McDonnell truly bought into NIL for the first time this last offseason after a timid embrace of it the year prior. 502Circle amped up spending for the 2025 roster (though Furman did not want to get into precise dollar amounts) to retain talented players including Zion Rose, Patrick Forbes and Tucker Biven. While the collective isn’t shelling out the same amount of cash as some of baseball’s biggest brands such as Tennessee or Ole Miss — where players could’ve gone and gotten six-figure NIL deals, Furman said — 502Circle’s budget is nothing to sniff at.

“I know he gets in it about resources,” Furman said of McDonnell, “but it’s like, I would be hard-pressed to find seven teams that spent more in the ACC. And the ACC was the most competitive baseball league in the country this year.”

Furman, who played college baseball at Pitt from 2014-17, also touted Louisville’s rich tradition and pro pedigree as a selling point for recruits. McDonnell has led U of L to a whopping 10 NCAA super regionals and five College World Series. Active Cards in MLB include Adam Duvall (Atlanta Braves), Henry Davis (Pittsburgh Pirates), Will Smith and Dalton Rushing (both with the Los Angeles Dodgers).

In Furman’s view, talent acquisition is the key to success. It’s not about the “extravagant facilities” or “flashing lights.” It’s about getting the players who can compete, win championships and develop into successful pros.

In June 2023, Louisville approved a $3 million upgrade to Jim Patterson Stadium. Since then, U of L baseball has renovated its locker room (using a six-figure donation from Davis), stadium entryway, ticket office, weight room/workout area, athletic training room and home and visitor dugouts. Louisville has also expanded the berm seating area and created a new third-base fan area inside the stadium.

These upgrades “accounted for the majority of the money that was approved,” U of L baseball spokesperson Stephen Williams told The Courier Journal.

U of L announced it had secured a $3 million donation from Kroger in April 2021 to build a new indoor practice facility, but that project has yet to break ground.

“Since we announced the indoor facility in the Spring of 2021, the college athletics landscape has changed dramatically,” Williams told The Courier Journal in an email. “With that in mind, we decided to pause on that and other capital projects throughout the department.

“As has been the norm with athletic departments around the country, with the constantly changing landscape around NIL, revenue sharing, etc., the University of Louisville is constantly evaluating how to best utilize the resources provided by our fans, donors, and sponsors so that all of our programs are well positioned to compete at the highest level and win championships.”

Below is a list of Louisville baseball spending based on the athletics department’s annual NCAA financial report.

The 2023-24 fiscal year roughly correlates to the 2023-24 school year, which encompassed the 2024 baseball season. The 2022-23 fiscal year roughly correlates to the 2022-23 school year, which encompassed the 2023 baseball season, and so on.

Of note: 2019 is the final fiscal year not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2020 baseball season ended in March, months short — meaning fewer games and less spending. Since then, athletics departments across the country have been recovering from the impact canceled and abbreviated seasons had on their annual budgets.

Louisville baseball spending:

FY2019: $4,572,824 (3.02% of total athletics spending)
FY2020: $4,164,385 (3%)
FY2021: $3,593,067 (3.29%)
FY2022: $5,204,574 (3.72%)
FY2023: $4,995,016 (3.56%)
FY2024: $5,591,981 (3.39%)

When comparing McDonnell’s reported compensation with that of coaches in the 2024 College World Series, he’s the second-highest paid by a wide margin. Head coaching compensation listed in NCAA financial reports includes “salaries, benefits and bonuses paid by the university and related entities.”

2024 College World Series schools head coach compensation vs. Louisville:

Dan McDonnell, Louisville: $1,787,567 (31.97% of total baseball spending)
Nick Mingione, Kentucky: $983,315 (20.07%)
Link Jarrett, Florida State: $907,143 (17.15%)
Elliott Avent, N.C. State: $735,838 (15.69%)
Jim Schlossnagle, Texas A&M: $1,373,715 (14.99%)
Tony Vitello, Tennessee: $1,916,592 (14.28%)
Scott Forbes, North Carolina: $688,822 (14.12%)

Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.

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Wildcats Announce 2025 Fall Schedule

Story Links VILLANOVA, Pa. – Eleven regular season home games at the newly resurfaced Higgins Soccer Complex highlight the 2025 Villanova Men’s Soccer regular season schedule announced today. “We’re excited to release our 2025 schedule, which features a strong slate of home games and a number of high-caliber opponents […]

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2 hours ago

June 4, 2025

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VILLANOVA, Pa. – Eleven regular season home games at the newly resurfaced Higgins Soccer Complex highlight the 2025 Villanova Men’s Soccer regular season schedule announced today.

“We’re excited to release our 2025 schedule, which features a strong slate of home games and a number of high-caliber opponents that will test us early and help prepare us for the rigors of Big East play,” said head coach Mark Fetrow, who enters his second season at the helm after succeeding longtime head coach Tom Carlin in November 2023.

“This schedule reflects our commitment to growth and excellence, and we’re looking forward to competing in front of our fans and representing Villanova with pride. Go Cats!”

A young Wildcats squad will open the new campaign on Thursday, Aug. 21 when it hosts Rider at 4 p.m. That match is the first of three in a row at Higgins that also includes an Aug. 28 date with Iona (kickoff at noon) and a Philly Soccer Six Labor Day clash with Saint Joseph’s (also with a noon kickoff).

Villanova will celebrate Alumni Day on Saturday, Sept. 13 when it welcomes 2024 NCAA College Cup participant Princeton to the Higgins Soccer Complex at 1 p.m. The Wildcats will face another Ivy League foe that played in the postseason when they visit Penn on Sept. 23.

The BIG EAST slate begins with a clash against DePaul on Friday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. Other league foes set to visit Villanova’s West Campus include Seton Hall (Oct. 11); Creighton (Oct. 17); and St. John’s (Nov. 1). The Wildcats will wrap up league play at Marquette on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Other non-league opponents set to travel to Villanova in the second half of the schedule include NJIT (Oct. 7), VMI (Oct. 21) and Holy Family (Nov. 4).

A new artificial turf, replacing the original surface that debuted when the facility was rechristened in 2014, is currently in the installation process at the Higgins Soccer Complex.

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Topper, Stambaugh working on NIL measure

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania House Republican Leader Jesse Topper (R-Bedford/Fulton) and Rep. Perry Stambaugh (R-Perry/Juniata) announced they will soon introduce legislation to provide protections for student-athletes receiving compensation for the use their name, image and likeness (NIL). While a case currently wending through federal courts will likely expand the NIL universe, no state legal structure exists. […]

Published

3 hours ago

June 4, 2025

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Topper, Stambaugh working on NIL measure

While a case currently wending through federal courts will likely expand the NIL universe, no state legal structure exists. This leaves compensated student-athletes vulnerable to poor financial decisions and without recourse if they should become injured during their career, according to a news release provided by Topper’s office.

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Rodriguez's one transfer portal is a consensus among Big 12 coaches

File photo WVU coach Rich Rodriguez is in favor of there only being one portal period. MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez was vocal this spring about his problems with the NCAA and the current state of college football. His biggest issue was with the transfer portal, and how there were two openings, with one […]

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4 hours ago

June 4, 2025

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Rodriguez's one transfer portal is a consensus among Big 12 coaches

File photo
WVU coach Rich Rodriguez is in favor of there only being one portal period.

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez was vocal this spring about his problems with the NCAA and the current state of college football. His biggest issue was with the transfer portal, and how there were two openings, with one in the winter and the other in the spring.

Rodriguez wants to adopt a professional model, like Bill Belichick’s model, with one portal window being like free agency and recruiting being the draft.

“It kind of sucks that we have to do so much roster movement, management, whatever you want to call it in April,” Rodriguez said early this spring. “I guess I am complaining. It’s kind of a new thing in college football. It’s not smart. It’s not right. It’s not organized correctly.”

Rodriguez wants one portal period. His argument is that he’ll coach a player all spring, and then after he’s spent all his time and effort developing the player, he can just jump in the portal and play against him in the fall.

“I mean, how ridiculous is that?” Rodriguez said in March. “There’s another portal thing coming up in a couple of weeks… I wasted all my time coaching this guy, getting him ready, and then he’s getting a paycheck to go somewhere else.”

Rodriguez isn’t the only coach in college football who sees this as an issue. Last week, the Big 12 coaches, athletic directors, and commissioner Brett Yormark met to talk about the current state of the sport and voiced their complaints.

Thursday, Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham and Kansas coach Lance Leipold took to the podium, answering questions about what they’d like to see for the future of college football, representing the rest of the Big 12 coaches.

The consensus for the portal was that the Big 12 coaches agree with Rodriguez and want one portal period.

“As coaches, we unanimously support one portal window, and that is in January,” Leipold said. “That’s what we’d like.”

Currently, there’s a portal period in December and another in April, so the January window won’t be a plug-and-play option. It won’t just replace one of the current windows while getting rid of the other. But, there’s reasoning behind why the coaches want January to be when the spring portal falls.

“It’s a tough thing with calendars right now and where it goes,” Leipold said ” It’s a chance to get your team settled. You’re signing most of your guys in December. You’re going to know what your roster will be like to start the second semester, and you have the opportunity to work and develop, build those relationships, evaluate your team, and get ready for the next season.”

A January portal gets rid of the awkward conversations a player and coach have in December when he’s on the roster of a College Football Playoff team making a run for the National Championship, and in the middle, the player has to decide to whether to stay for the betterment of the team or leave to better his career.

It also removes a coach coaching a player all spring, just for them to leave at the end.

It’ll be interesting to see how January works, though. The December portal was created because the winter semester ends in early December and starts at the beginning of January. So, players have time to switch schools during the break. The portal in January could get dicey with many schools starting the second semester in early January. The National Championship game for 2026 is scheduled for January 19, which is deep into January, so will it be after? Now, it’s almost February at that point.

There hasn’t been a change, yet, on the portal because of issues like these, but it’s known that the Big 12 coaches want it to change, so a switch could be coming in the future.

“I think the people in charge see that you can’t have this much roster movement and turnover and changing in April and May,” Rodriguez said. “It’s ridiculous.”

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Kaiah Altmeyer becomes the 10th Arizona Wildcat in the transfer portal

Arizona is definitely the “what’s going on there?” team this softball offseason. It was a position Washington was in last year and Alabama was in two years before that. Big programs that have the portal floodgates open and carry away half the team. What was once a team that just needed pitching and a bit […]

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5 hours ago

June 4, 2025

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Kaiah Altmeyer becomes the 10th Arizona Wildcat in the transfer portal

What was once a team that just needed pitching and a bit of depth at key positions now needs almost an entire outfield. Kaiah Altmeyer just became the second starting outfielder and the 10th Arizona softball player to enter the transfer portal this offseason.

Altmeyer didn’t get the national attention of her fellow Arizona outfielders, but she has been a mainstay at the top of the lineup. She led the Wildcats with 19 doubles, almost twice as many as the 10 hit by fellow outfield portal-resident Dakota Kennedy. Her 42 walks were second behind Sydney Stewart (48). She had 66 hits, second behind Regan Shockey (88). Her 50 runs scored were third behind Shockey (57) and Stewart (56). Her five home runs were tied for fifth with Kennedy and yet another portal entry, Emily Schepp.

Over her career, Altmeyer played in 136 games with 112 starts. She made 61 of those starts this season when she started in every one of Arizona’s games, primarily in right field.

She came into the season with 140 at-bats in her career. She added 181 in 2025 for a total of 321 at-bats in three years.

She ends her time at Arizona with a .355 average, a .548 slugging percentage, and a .454 on-base percentage. She had 26 doubles, 3 triples, and 10 home runs over three years. She walked 62 times. Her career fielding percentage is .924. All of her offensive numbers improved dramatically in her final season in Tucson.

With Altmeyer bringing the transfer departures to 10 and four players exhausting their eligibility, 14 of the 22 players on the 2025 roster will not return. The Wildcats have added pitcher Jenae Berry via the portal and have a class of four arriving for the 2026 season, bringing the current expected roster to 13. However, instead of being able to concentrate on desperately needed pitching and a bit of depth, the coaching staff now needs to replace two highly productive starters, as well.

Lead photo by Ryan Kelapire