College Quarterback Reveals Why He Rejected $8 Million NIL Deal originally appeared on The Spun.

Money isn’t everything for at least one of the SEC’s top quarterbacks.

Following an impressive freshman season at South Carolina, Gamecocks QB LaNorris Sellers reportedly received several multi-million dollar NIL offers to enter the transfer portal — including a two-year, $8 million contract. However, he turned it down.

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In a conversation with The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, Sellers’ dad Norris revealed the lengths schools were willing to go to in an effort to poach his son out of Columbia. But he and his son wanted to keep the main thing the main thing.

“He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,” Norris said. “I told him he could say, I’m gonna stay or I’m gonna go. By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn’t come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball, and with schools calling, we’re not gonna jump ship because they’re offering more than what we’re getting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Sellers threw for 2,534 yards with 25 total touchdowns and another 674 rushing yards on the ground in his first season as a full-time starter on the way to SEC Freshman of the Year honors.

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But as hard as it is for someone so young to turn down that kind of money, Sellers’ father says LaNorris never really entertained leaving SC.

“You’re 19,” he told his son. “You don’t need [$8 million]. You’re in a great spot. There were several talks, but it never really crossed his mind [to leave]. It’s a challenge with colleges offering younger guys that kind of money. Who’s gonna say no to $8 million for two years? They’re gonna be swayed if you don’t have the right people in your corner.”

Some have Sellers projected to be the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft with how high expectations are for him in Year 2. And this kind of mindset could serve him well in the future when it comes to finding the right fit in the pros.

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Related: WNBA Player Levels Caitlin Clark With Blatant Cheap Shot

College Quarterback Reveals Why He Rejected $8 Million NIL Deal first appeared on The Spun on Jun 18, 2025

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.

The House vs NCAA settlement is sending shockwaves across college sports and one of its biggest conclusions was that athletes get a share of the University’s revenue. But one prominent voice in the industry isn’t buying the spin from college leaders that, from now on, revenue-sharing arrangements will be the new way.

In his latest Mailbag for The Athletic, college football analyst Stewart Mandel isn’t buying the idea that the NCAA and the newly minted College Sports Commission from the historic settlement could successfully implement a process limiting how much schools and athletes can spend or earn, all while staying on the right side of federal law.

“Do they truly believe the words coming out of their mouths?” Mandel wrote. “Pro athletes’ salaries only ever go up and up and up. College coaches’ salaries only ever go up and up and up. But we are to believe that the new College Sports Commission has devised a foolproof system to decrease college athletes’ compensation that is — how do you say it — legal?”

Mandel further explained his viewpoint, citing the attempts to cap college athletes’ compensation constitute illegal restraints of trade.

“Over the last dozen years, judges from across the political spectrum, including the nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, have found it to be an illegal restraint of trade for the NCAA’s membership to enforce policies that restrict athletes’ earnings,” Mandel added.

The House settlement levies a cap on how much a institution can spend ($20.5 million) to pay athletes along with a limit on third party NIL deals as well.

Stewart Mandel cites Texas Tech’s current NIL situation to further his point on NIL deals

Stewart Mandel cited the example of Texas Tech and how are they going to get under the cap of $20.5 million after already committing to $55 million NIL deals for the upcoming school year. Mandel is not just brewing up random numbers. He confirmed the same through mega-booster Cody Campbell, telling his colleague Sam Khan.

Only two things can happen from here, as Mandel said:

“Either their payroll is going down by more than 60 percent a year from now, or, as I strongly suspect, a judge will have long since issued an injunction that ties the enforcers’ hands.”

It remains to be seen what further comes out of the situation as voices like Mandel are making sure no one buys into what he calls “a foolproof system” without asking.

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NIL deals are running rampant in the world of college sports.

As it turns out, the interest is expanding overseas as universities target international players to come to their schools and play for their respective teams.

Duke’s Dame Sarr and North Carolina’s Luka Bogavac are a couple of notable international players who are heading to the mainland to play at some of the top programs in college basketball.

As a result, Philippe Ausseur, the President of France’s National Basketball League, is not happy with universities making a run at international stars, per French reporter Yann Ohnana.

“Given the number of players approached, about fifteen of whom have signed up, we can call it looting. The colleges are casting their net wide, even in Pro B, and are dispossessing us of a certain number of our key players without us being able to react,” Ausseur said.

He also mentioned that the league has been aware of this trend, but the biggest shock was the massive amount in the reported deals.

“What took us by surprise were the amounts. We were expecting big contracts worth $350,000, but it’s $2 million…We were expecting half a dozen players to be approached, but it’s more than triple that…We’ve heard of agents trying to get clubs to sign certificates to demonstrate that their players are still amateurs. The situation remains unclear,” Ausseur said.

Ilias Kamardine is one French hoops star who decided to go and play for Ole Miss despite being a star in France.

With NIL expanding every year, it will become more and more difficult for other leagues to keep their players, especially with the cash flow they can receive and the exposure of playing at the college level.

The top priority of the Pittsburgh Steelers scouting staff this college football season is to sort out what is already shaping up to be an elite quarterback class for the 2026 NFL draft. Thanks to the ridiculous nature of NIL money, the NFL now has another aspect of players to track and that’s their loyalty to their team as opposed to making fast money in college football.