The term student-athlete died on Friday.

For years, the NCAA has attempted to distinguish its players from professionals, emphasizing that they are students first. That mirage now seems lost forever.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken gave final approval to the landmark settlement in the House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit, which had been ongoing for five years, ending nearly a year of negotiations and revisions. The $2.8 billion, 10-year settlement will pay past players for missed name, image and likeness opportunities and allow colleges to pay current players directly starting July 1.

As schools of all levels throughout the country scramble to figure out what’s next, McNeese State officials say they are ready for the future.

“It’s a new and exciting time for college athletics,” McNeese Director of Athletics Heath Schroyer said. “My staff and I have been working for over a year to prepare. We’ve considered how these changes will impact McNeese athletics and also how we can best position ourselves.”

Schroyer said McNeese will buy into the program, while other Football Championship Subdivision and Southland Conference schools will consider opting out. Houston Christian is likely one of those.

“We’ve decided to opt in and bring our collective/NIL in-house and participate in revenue sharing,” he said. “We’ll keep the same scholarship numbers this first year for each sport. During this first year, we will evaluate both our financial situation and the national landscape.”

With the NIL becoming entirely in-house, the Ranch Collective, which previously ran the program, will transition into a new role, said Keifer Ackley, assistant AD for NIL and Student-Athlete at McNeese.

“This will allow us to streamline the process,” Ackley said. “This will make us more transparent.”

The Ranch Collective is likely to transition into a more marketing-focused tool for the university, he said.

For now, it appears all programs will remain, but this is a fluid situation on all levels, and McNeese’s goal, Schroyer said, remains to move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision level if the opportunity arises. There is also no telling what will come next as lawsuits are expected to be filed over a variety of concerns.

“Sometimes these decisions aren’t popular with everyone, and that’s OK,” Schroyer said. “I get it. The only constant in life is change; college athletics have undergone significant changes in the last few years, and this trend is likely to continue.”

NCAA President Charlie Baker wrote an open letter after the settlement:

“Approving the agreement reached by the NCAA, the defendant conferences and student-athletes in the settlement opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports,” Baker wrote. “This new framework that enables schools to provide direct financial benefits to student-athletes and establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party NIL agreements marks a huge step forward for college sports.”

Earlier this spring, Baker spoke to McNeese athletes about the future of college sports and seemed shocked by the number of players who had transferred to the school.

As part of the settlement, McNeese, along with the other FCS schools, will be required to pay $180,000 this year and between $25,000 and $300,000, which the NCAA will deduct from the funds it provides to the school.

Helping to pay for that will be a 12-game football schedule the FCS is expected to add in future years. The final decision on the extra game will be made in the last week of June.

The settlement is a victory for power conference schools, which easily have the resources to cover the money and compete in what is now an unlimited bidding war.

“The approval of the House settlement agreement represents a significant milestone for the meaningful support of our student-athletes and a pivotal step toward establishing long-term sustainability for college sports, two of the Southeastern Conference’s top priorities,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said. “As the journey to modernize collegiate sports continues, we remain focused on identifying and implementing innovative opportunities for our student-athletes across all sports while maintaining the core values that make collegiate athletics uniquely meaningful.”

While it’s not clear how it will all play out, McNeese says it expects to pivot with whatever comes next.

Texas A&M’s most significant offseason addition is a matter of debate. Still, in my humble opinion, it is former NC State wide receiver KC Concepcion, who is by far the most dynamic receiver on the 2025 roster and provides starting quarterback Marcel Reed a true No. 1 option, which has been lacking since Ainais Smith departed for the NFL.

Concepcion is one of the best receivers after the catch, averaging 11-plus yards per reception during his 2023 sophomore season. While his production dropped off slightly in 2024, the North Carolina native is poised for his best season yet in OC Collin Klein’s offensive scheme. Off the field, Concepcion is cashing in like many of his college football counterparts in the new NIL era.

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According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Concepcion has secured $2.5 million in NIL earnings ahead of his first season with Texas A&M, working with Sports Representatives The Familie. This is unsurprising given his importance to the program and his talent level.

The House v. NCAA settlement was officially approved last Friday night, as every Power Four program will work with around $20.5 million of the school revenue with their respective college athletes, providing players like Concepcion the financial incentive while making things much clearer with each school directly paying each player.

During his last two seasons at North Carolina State, Concepcion recorded 1,299 yards and 16 touchdowns, including 356 rushing yards and two scores.

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This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion has earned $2.5 million in NIL earnings

The 2025 MLB Draft will be held in Atlanta, Georgia on July 13, and with the 2025 season over for a lot of college baseball players, the time now is shifted towards which players should enter the draft or stay in college for an extra season, or who should return to try and win a College World Series with their team. One of those players that has to make that decision will be Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets sophomore outfielder Drew Burress.

Burress has had a historic start to his college career, as he had one of the best freshmen seasons in not only Georgia Tech history, but also college baseball as a whole. Burress was named the NCAA Freshman of the year in 2024, and led the Yellow Jackets in five hitting categories that season. Then came 2025.

While some of his numbers did take a dip, Burress still had a phenomenal season, hitting 19 home runs and 23 doubles, as he propelled himself as one of the top prospects in the nation.

Burress now has the decision to stay with the Yellow Jackets or go to the MLB, where he will undoubtedly be a top five pick in the MLB Draft. If you ask me, I think Burress should go, and that’s simply because he deserves to be on an MLB roster.

Burress is going to be a star player at the next level, and I would want him to start that career as soon as he can, even if it means moving away from the Yellow Jackets.

I get the fans that want him to come back, but Burress is destined for so much more than what the Yellow Jackets can offer him at the collegiate level. Go to the big leagues and make us proud to have someone of your magnitude play on the big stage.

FSU softball lost in the Super Regionals for the second consecutive season. They lost to the eventual national champions in 2024 and ran into a unicorn pitcher from Texas Tech in 2025.

Coach Lonni Alameda addressed the pitching concerns from 2024 and had one of the best and deepest pitching units nationally.

It was a historic year for the offense:

FSU losing Kennedy Harp for the season late in the year didn’t help their chances in the postseason. The Noles will lose some firepower with the departures of Michaela Edenfield, Jahni Kerr, and Kate Dack.

However, they have offensive players returning like: Isa Torres, Kennedy Harp, Jaysoni Beachum, Ashtyn Danley, Shelby McKenzie, Angelee Bueno, and likely players from the transfer portal.

Ashtyn Danley and Jazzy Francik will return inside the circle, which provides two outstanding options with tons of experience.

FSU has added freshmen who have been impact players over the last couple of years, and the Noles have reloaded with an outstanding recruiting class again for 2026:

Hinde will likely look to fill the vacancy left by Edenfield’s departure behind the plate. She was excellent power with seven home runs, batting .679. and a .809 on-base percentage as a senior.

Griggs will play in the infield and bring a monster bat to college. She batted .656 with 23 home runs, 64 runs scored, 55 RBI, and 29 stolen bases.

Dimitrijevic has over 1,000 strikeouts in his high school career and had 347 K’s in 147.2 innings and a 0.43 ERA as a senior.

Other standout players in the class:

Harlie Chism-No. 17 player overall and No. 5 infielder from Oklahoma. 3-time state track champion

Marlee Gaskell-No. 4 pitcher via Extra Innings Softball. 133 innings with a 1.21 ERA with 174 strikeouts compared to 30 walks

Makenna Sturgis-Hit .518 with 16 home runs, 60 RBI, and 47 stolen bases

The 2025 recruiting class was No. 3 nationally and boasts nine players total. FSU has power, speed, and another freshman pitcher who could serve in a similar role as Ashtyn Danley and Jazzy Francik over the past two years. It looks like Lonni Alameda is positioning FSU to make another deep run in the postseason.