CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Schools have only been able to pay players directly for three weeks, and questions have already surfaced about the sustainability of the new system.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips’ message Tuesday: Give this model a chance to work.

“Without question, there’s still significant work to be done, but we must acknowledge that, collectively, we are truly in a better place and we have a responsibility to make it work in the future,” Phillips said at the start of his league’s football kickoff.

The questions have centered on whether collectives can continue paying players after the House settlement. Guidance from the College Sports Commission — the new enforcement arm that’s policing deals — suggested those deals aren’t what industry officials consider “legitimate NIL.” Even if the dispute doesn’t trigger more lawsuits, Phillips said Tuesday that the issue could go before a judge for interpretation.

In the meantime, Phillips said the goals of transparency and standardized rules are important to pursue as schools share up to $20.5 million directly with players. He said 15,519 players have registered for the clearinghouse, NIL Go, along with almost 2,000 agents. He also acknowledged the fact that schools have traditionally tried to skirt rules, which is why he’s emphasizing restraint.

“We can’t help ourselves sometimes,” Phillips said. “People know what the rules are relative to $20.5 (million). They know what legitimate NIL is. You can play in that gray area if you want, but all that does is undermine a new structure.

“We fought hard for the things I just mentioned, and we’d be well-served to just kind of relax and let this thing settle in.”

Phillips addressed several other topics Tuesday:

• He favors future College Football Playoff formats that guarantee spots for only the top five conference champions. The Big Ten has advocated for a model that tilts toward itself and the SEC with four bids for those leagues and two apiece for the ACC and Big 12.

Phillips did not address that idea specifically but stressed the “importance of coming together to find a solution that is truly best for all of college football.”

“I want to stay committed to access and fairness to all of college football, not only the ACC,” Phillips added later.

He said he’s open to expansion models that include five conference champions plus either nine or 11 at-large teams.

• The ACC has discussed moving from eight to nine conference games, like the SEC has considered for years. One league’s decision affects the other. Phillips said the ACC prefers eight league games so it can schedule marquee nonconference matchups, like this year’s slate (Clemson-LSU, Florida State-Alabama and North Carolina-TCU). The addition of a ninth conference game for either conference would jeopardize in-state, ACC-SEC rivalries like Florida-Florida State or Georgia-Georgia Tech.

“At the end of the day, I like where our league is,” Phillips said. “But we’ll adjust if we have to.”

• The conference will mandate player availability reports in football, basketball and baseball. The first football report must be submitted two days before a game, then one day before and on the day of. The ACC has not yet come up with a fine structure if coaches or schools are not forthcoming about injuries.

• The ACC will also start fining schools for field/court stormings after games if visiting teams and officials haven’t yet left the area: $50,000 for the first offense, $100,000 for the second and $200,000 for the third. Those fines accumulate over two years.

Also on Tuesday, ESPN announced that it hired former Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher as an analyst for the ACC Network. Fisher led the Seminoles to conference titles from 2012 to 2014 and the national championship in 2013. He left for Texas A&M near the end of the 2017 season.

(Photo: Jim Dedmon / Imagn Images)

The schedule features 16 regular-season contests with 10 matches played at Dorrance Field.

The 2025 slate includes five teams that finished in the top 25 of the final United Soccer Coaches poll last season, highlighted by home games against No. 5 SMU and No. 6 Wake Forest. Including those two, UNC’s opponents feature seven NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago.

Carolina’s schedule includes home Atlantic Coast Conference matches against Wake Forest (Sept. 12), SMU (Sept. 20), Virginia Tech (Oct. 19) and Duke (Oct. 31). The Tar Heels will hit the road against conference foes NC State (Sept. 5), Virginia (Sept. 27), Louisville (Oct. 3) and Syracuse (Oct. 25).

The Tar Heels open the regular season on Aug. 21, hosting UCF, and wrap up the weekend against Seattle (Aug. 24). The following weekend, the program welcomes Evansville (Aug. 28) to Dorrance Field before hitting the road to Charleston (Sept. 1).

Carolina will also face Memphis (Sept. 16), Lipscomb (Oct. 7), and St. Thomas (Oct. 11) at Dorrance Field, rounding out non-conference play by hosting UAB (Oct. 15).

Prior to the start of the regular season, UNC will head to Campbell for its first preseason test on Aug. 9. The Tar Heels will then host VCU on Aug. 15, for their final exhibition.

North Carolina produced a 9-4-5 (4-3-1 ACC) mark in 2024, advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the 31st time in program history.

Ticket information for the 2025 campaign will be available soon. For more information visit GoHeels.com/Tickets.

 

Phillips emphasized the ACC’s leadership role in implementing the new College Sports Commission model, which governs NIL, revenue sharing and roster limits. While acknowledging early challenges, he remained optimistic.

“We’re being thoughtful about every detail and are committed to progress through learning, adapting, and strengthening the model to support and protect college sports for generations to come,” he said.

He also reiterated the ACC’s support of the SCORE Act, a federal bill designed to standardize NIL rules and reaffirm student-athletes’ non-employee status.

“I haven’t had one student-athlete come up to me to say that they want to be an employee,” Phillips said. “I think they appreciate being in college, going to school, working critically hard to earn a valuable degree, and playing a sport at the highest level.”

South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson is the latest Gamecock making news off the court, as she has officially signed an NIL deal with Unrivaled, the women’s professional 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Latson is just one of 14 elite women’s college basketball players chosen by the league for NIL partnerships as part of “The Future is Unrivaled Class of 2025”. The group was unveiled during the WNBA All-Star Weekend as Unrivaled ramps up for its second season this winter. The league operates during the WNBA offseason and offers an alternative to playing ball overseas, focusing on face-paced 3×3 matchups at a higher level, while still giving players a stage to shine on while staying stateside.

Latson is no stranger to the spotlight either. Before transferring to South Carolina from Florida State, she led the nation in scoring as a Seminole last season, averaging 25.5 points per game. She is also a projected first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft. Latson also won’t be the only Gamecocks with ties to Unrivaled. Former South Carolina greats Allisha Gray and Aliyah Boston played in the league’s inaugural season, and MiLaysia Fulwiley, now an LSU Tiger, was also named to this year’s NIL class.

The full Unrivaled NIL roster includes Lauren Betts (UCLA), Sienna Betts (UCLA), Madison Booker (Texas), Audi Crooks (Iowa State), Azzi Fudd (UConn), MiLaysia Fulwiley (LSU), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Flau’jae Johnson (LSU), Ta’Niya Latson (South Carolina), Olivia Miles (TCU), Kiki Rice (UCLA), Sarah Strong (UConn), Syla Swords (Michigan), and JuJu Watkins (USC).