In an age where high school stars can ink six-figure deals before taking a college snap, Oregon head coach Dan Lanning isn’t afraid to speak bluntly about what comes next.

“I don’t need you walking in with a chain that says Taylor on it. We can just have a T, man,” Lanning said with a laugh, referring to his approach when talking NIL with recruits. Behind the humor is a serious message—players at Oregon aren’t just learning football, they’re learning how to manage life-changing money.

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The Ducks finished with the No. 4 overall recruiting class in 2025, and the average NIL valuation of those signees? $214,000. That kind of money makes Lanning’s financial literacy push more than a talking point—it’s essential. From day one, Oregon brings in professionals to educate players on budgeting, taxes, and long-term planning. Lanning said the goal is for players to “feel comfortable having that conversation with us,” ensuring they don’t go broke chasing quick clout.

Lanning’s philosophy isn’t just theory—it’s producing real results. He recently caught up with former Oregon running back Bucky Irving, who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and signed a deal worth nearly $1.2 million per year. Irving shared how he’s saving, investing, and learning from lessons that started in Eugene. “Sometimes, a mistake is a great lesson,” Lanning said. “You want them to learn from it… so they can have a long-term future because of it.”

In a college football world obsessed with short-term gain, Dan Lanning is playing the long game. His message is simple: be smart with your money, and your future will thank you.

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While it’s become the norm for star college football players to seek higher NIL paydays in the transfer portal, most of that movement is expected to come in the December window.

This offseason, however, the chaos of the spring portal window exposed some cracks in the sport as name, image, and likeness continue to dominate the scene.

The defining storyline came from the Tennessee Volunteers when former quarterback Nico Iamaleava sought a pay raise on his $2.4 million NIL deal. During the negotiations, the team eventually dismissed Iamaleava, who then joined the UCLA Bruins.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel found his potential next starter in transfer quarterback Joey Aguilar, but he missed a critical portion of the offseason in spring practice, one that was designed around a quarterback no longer on the roster.

Will the Second College Football Transfer Portal Window Survive?

Pete Nakos with On3Sports (subscription required) spoke with a Power Four GM who believes none of the drama that resulted in divorce with Iamaleava would’ve transpired if not for the spring portal window — one that lasts a mere 10 days.

“Never happens,” the general manager said. “It absolutely never happens if the spring portal doesn’t exist. It never happens. Nico doesn’t even have the leverage to make it happen.”

It wasn’t just the Iamaleava situation in a vacuum, though Heupel was championed by many for not conceding to the NIL demands. It set off a ripple effect where multiple ACC, Big 12, and Big Ten quarterbacks re-entered negotiations to secure higher paydays at their schools.

The threat of departure in April can be catastrophic for teams looking to the College Football Playoff, and the continued uncertainty is something many are seeking to eliminate from the sport.

It’s unclear how coaches plan to seek that path forward; much, if not all, of the attention of universities is centered around the House settlement and impending revenue-sharing for players. None of those discussions or the settlement language contains anything on the transfer portal.

Some coaches believe that six weeks is ultimately not enough time for players to decide they fit or don’t fit somewhere, and those who decide to move aren’t committed to the program at all. Wouldn’t they prefer to cut those losses rather than keep around guys who don’t fit their culture?

There’s no perfect solution to what stands at present, and those in favor may appreciate an additional offseason to evaluate the pieces that came in the December window as well as their returners, with the opportunity to address those holes in spring.

That’s easier said than done when continuously thinking about their rosters being poached, and that comfort level may override any desire to add in a second window.

OU earns the NCAA’s automatic qualifier bid as 2025 SEC Regular Season Champions. The Sooners enter the NCAA Tournament with a 45-7 record and 17-7 mark in SEC regular season play. 

Oklahoma defeated No. 9/10 LSU and No. 6/7 Arkansas en route to the SEC Tournament Championship game in year one in the league. 

The 2025 NCAA Softball Tournament bracket will be announced Sunday, May 11 at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2. 

 

For as long as they can both remember, Minnesota State alumni Wyatt Aamodt and Sam Morton have dreamed of playing in the National Hockey League.

The two MSU hockey standouts saw those dreams realized last month, when Aamodt was called up to the Colorado Avalanche and Morton made his debut with the Calgary Flames. Both seasons for the Flames and Avalanche have since ended.

“I was excited,” said Aamodt about getting the call. “I was getting older and I was starting to wonder if my opportunity was going to come. Then I got the call. It’s a special moment when it happens.”

Morton’s experience was similar: “I was watching Netflix late at night and I got a call from the (Calgary) Wranglers GM that I was moving up. It was shocking but it was super exciting.”

Aamodt, a native of Hermantown, was a four-year letterwinner for the Mavericks as a defenseman who graduated in 2022. He ranked second among MSU defensemen in goals in 2021-22 and was first among all Mavericks’ skaters with 56 blocked shots. Aamodt, who was MSU’s captain during the 2021-22 season, helped MSU win four consecutive regular-season conference championships during his career. He was also part of both the 2021 and 2022 Frozen Four teams.

“I signed with the Avalanche two days after we lost in the Frozen Four my senior year,” Aamodt said. “I was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles, where I played three years before getting called up last month.”

Aamodt said the jump from college to the Eagles was an adjustment, as was the move up from the Eagles to the Avalanche.

However, the adjustment wasn’t much of an issue for Aamodt, as he notched his first NHL goal in just his second career game.

“Each level you get to the players are bigger, faster, stronger,” he said. “I wasn’t too nervous to join the Avalanche. I had some buddies on the team that I had played with with the Eagles. They showed me the ropes.”

Morton, who is from Lafayette, CO, graduated from MSU in 2024. He was the team captain his senior season and played in 102 career games, finishing with 44 goals and 32 assists.

Morton suffered a season-ending torn ACL early in the 2022-23 season, which was supposed to be his final year of college hockey. Despite MSU going through a coaching change during the 2023 offseason, Morton decided to return to the Mavericks for one final year. He delivered an incredible season in 2023-24 despite coming off the knee injury, leading the CCHA with 24 goals. He earned CCHA Player of the Year honors, before jumping into his pro career.

This season, in his first full year with the Calgary Wranglers, he played in 70 games, scoring 20 goals with 24 assists before getting called up.

“I played in the last game for the Flames before the season ended,” Morton said. “Now I’m still in Calgary working with the strength coaches. They told me to have a good offseason, compete hard and to try to make the team next September.”

Aamodt and Morton are pretty good friends, having played two seasons together at MSU, both of which ended at the Frozen Four. They were among the first calls to each other when they received the call-ups.

‘He was glad for me and I was glad for him,” said Aamodt. “We’ve been friends since college.”

Morton wanted to pick Aamodt’s brain as soon as he was notified: “I definitely used him as a resource. We were both having similar experiences.”

Aamodt and Morton are the 23rd and 24th former MSU players to skate in an NHL game, respectively.

Shane Beamer knows he’s in a unique position as the football coach on a college campus that erected a statue for legendary South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who’s won three NCAA national championships in the last decade. But as California district judge Claudia Wilken weighs a revised House v. NCAA settlement that will usher in revenue sharing between schools and student-athletes, the balance of power on the Gamecocks’ campus will now come with a price tag.

What those numbers ultimately look like will be up to the South Carolina administration, including new athletic director Jeremiah Donati. That said, according to the settlement’s proposed distribution model, Power Four football programs are expected to receive roughly 75-percent of approximately $20.5 million in rev-share money while women’s basketball is slotted to get 5-percent of that, or less than $500,000 annually based on that initial $20.5 million figure.

“Our situation is different because of Coach Staley, not every football coach shares a campus with a women’s basketball coach that has a statue, and she’s till coaching. … You realize the impact that she has on our university and our community, and we’re extremely close,” Beamer said last week in Greenville. “Ultimately those decisions are up to Jeremiah Donati and our administration. And I’m a team player, and coach Staley is a team player. She’s extremely supportive of what we’re doing football-wise, and I’m extremely supportive of what she’s doing basketball-wise. We try to help each other in so many ways, and that’s not going to change. And ultimately what it looks like, she understands the revenue that football brings in, not just at South Carolina but everywhere. She understands that, but she also wants to win championships too, and she’s a competitive person also.”

Despite that clear financial discrepency, Beamer knows however South Carolina’s revenue-sharing finances are ultimately split up amongst the sports, it’ll all be for the betterment of the entire Gamecocks athletic department at large.

“As far as having specific conversations (about revenue-sharing), no, but I think she’d say the same thing and I’m saying the same thing,” Beamer continued, “we all want South Carolina to be great in every sport, whether it be women’s basketball, men’s basketball with Lamont (Paris), baseball with Coach (Paul) Mainieri, women’s golf with Kalen (Anderson), you name it. The best thing is for all of us to be successful.”

Shane Beamer endorses Nick Saban as co-chair of commission on college sports

A week after Nick Saban introduced President Donald Trump at an Alabama commencement event, On3’s Pete Nakos reported the legendary coach would be part of a commission on college sports. Saban is expected to be a co-chair of the commission, along with Texas Tech Board of Regents chairman Cody Campbell.

Speaking with reporters this week, Shane Beamer expressed his support for Saban’s involvement. The South Carolina coach endorsed Trump’s expected decision to name him co-chair.

Beamer pointed out Saban’s stature in college football as one of the greatest to ever roam the sidelines and how that translates to the future of the game. While he didn’t know many specifics about Trump’s commission on college sports, Beamer said Saban would be one of his first calls about changing the current landscape.

“I don’t know enough about it. I think if you’re looking for anyone to spearhead change or be in a leadership position when it comes to college football going forward, he’s the first person that would come to mind from my standpoint,” Beamer said on the “Welcome Home Tour” in Greenville. “I know a lot of people would say the same. Don’t know enough about it, but all for it.”

Yahoo Sports first reported Trump’s plans to form a commission focused on college sports. The Athletic also added the president will be “very engaged” because of the national importance he sees in college athletics.

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.