NIL
Ole Miss schedules celebrity softball game to drive NIL contributions
Ole Miss will hold a celebrity softball game on campus this summer to boost name, image, and likeness contributions to The Grove Collective.
A multitude of Rebel coaches and greats, including Lane Kiffin, Dexter McCluster, and Marshall Henderson, will compete in the softball complex on Thursday, June 5.
The squads will consist of a number of notable former student-athletes, including Donte Moncrief, Terence Davis, Kaitlin Lee, and Will Allen, among others. Ole Miss basketball coaches Chris Beard and Yolett McPhee-McCuin, Athletics Director Keith Carter, and other coaches and staff will also join the competition.
The inaugural event will take place at the new Ole Miss Softball stadium and begin with a home run derby at 5 p.m., followed by the first pitch of the game at 6 p.m. After festivities, fans will have the chance to participate in a 30-minute autograph/photo session with select players.
📆 Save the Date
Join us at the new Ole Miss Softball Stadium on June 5 for our Celebrity Softball Game! Tap for details.@grovecollectnil | @RiverlandRoofs
— Ole Miss Athletics (@OleMissSports) May 20, 2025
“We’re thrilled to launch events such as this that not only create lasting memories for fans but benefit The Grove Collective,” Carter said. “The event also provides a special chance to welcome home some great Rebels of the past, and I’m looking forward to joining them on the field for a fun and meaningful night. We will continue to seek opportunities to collaborate with The Grove Collective while engaging Rebel Nation in new and exciting ways.”
Tickets are available here. Additionally, for every ticket purchased, a $2 donation will be made directly to The Grove Collective. Gates to the celebrity matchup will open at 4 p.m. on game day. In addition, the event will be streamed. The complete rosters will be announced in the weeks leading up to the game.
“We are excited to kick off a summer of giving opportunities with best-in-class events like this, which highlight the coordination and alignment between The Grove Collective and our university partners,” Walker Jones, executive director of The Grove Collective, said. “We look forward to seeing our fans engage with current and former athletes throughout the summer as we continue to lead in the world of name, image, and likeness.”
TEMPE — The NIL sphere has created a seismic shift in the world of college athletics – the ways in which Arizona State has been impacted are very real in the midst of the changes to the structure of athletics.
ASU football head coach Kenny Dillingham has been quite vocal in finding avenues for the football program to improve in that sphere – most recently making a plea for a mega-donor to make a program-changing contribution – much in the same way that Texas Tech’s fortunes were changed nearly overnight.
Arizona State on SI selects four power brokers who are affiliated with the school and have the potential to become folk heroes in Tempe.
Phil Mickelson
Mickelson – an Arizona State graduate in 1992 – is considered one of the best golfers of all time, ranking 8th in PGA Tour victories (45) and earning six major victories.
The legendary golfer has frequently shouted out the football program in social media posts over the last two seasons as well, confirming that he still associates with the university.
Mickelson is also reportedly boasting a net worth of $350 million, making the golfer one of, if not the prime candidates, to commit a hefty check to not only improve the football infrastructure, but university athletics as a whole.
Jon Rahm
Rahm, 31, is a native of Spain who played at Arizona State from 2012-2016, becoming one of the top amateurs in golf during those four years.
Rahm continues to maintain a residence in the Phoenix area and has seemingly stayed connected with the university over the years – he has the potential to be another heavy-hitting contributor alongside Mickelson.
Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel, 58, is an outside-the-box addition to the equation here, as he attended, but didn’t graduate from Arizona State.
Still, it’s fascinating to bring up the possibility of a late-night show host contributing to the program and becoming immortalized amongst the fanbase despite not holding a diploma from the school.
James Harden
Harden is another clear option that is out there for a mega-donor.
The 36-year-old NBA star has built up multi-generational wealth over his career, and has never shied away from continuing to proudly display his affiliation with the program – even openly donating in the high-six figure totals to the basketball program’s NIL efforts, as well as returning to interact/practice with Sun Devil teams that are incoming each summer.
Regardless of what happens in NIL efforts of the university moving forward, there are options that could surely fulfill Dillingham’s desires.
Read more on why the Arizona State men’s basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.
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Duke’s Peyton Jones runs the ball during the second half of the Blue Devils’ 45-17 win over Elon on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.
The News & Observer
With roster management and player retention a big part of coaches’ jobs, Duke’s Manny Diaz had some good news to share at Christmastime: Quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate are both returning for the 2026 football season.
Mensah, a redshirt sophomore this season and the ACC’s leading passer, had talked with Diaz and others about his NFL possibilities. But the former Tulane transfer decided to come back for a second year with the Blue Devils, where he again is expected to receive one of the top NIL packages in college football.
Barkate, who transferred to Duke from Harvard before last season, had 68 catches for 1,069 yards for the 2025 ACC champions, averaging 15.7 yards a grab, and scored six touchdowns.
The Blue Devils, who face Arizona State in the Dec. 31 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, had just three players miss bowl practices, according to Diaz. One was offensive tackle Brian Parker II, who announced he would leave Duke early to enter the NFL Draft. Cornerback Chandler Rivers and defensive end Vincent Anthony Jr., also are preparing for the 2026 draft.
Duke also has another departure: running backs coach Chris Foster, who has joined the Florida staff after one year on the Diaz staff.
“The situation is always fluid, but I expect our retention rate to be very good, again,” Diaz said. Here’s a look at who the Devils will have leaving when the NCAA transfer portal opens Jan. 2:
Entering the portal
RB Peyton Jones: Became something of a forgotten man in the offense in 2025 with the emergence of Nate Sheppard and power running of transfer Anderson Castle. Played in four games after being Star Thomas’ backup in 2024 and rushing for 317 yards.
TE Vance Bolyard: The redshirt sophomore from Greensboro was used primarily on special teams in 2025. Played in 10 games in 2024.
OL Jack Small: A redshirt freshman this year, the 6-6, 300-pounder was used in just two games.
S Kenzy Paul: Redshirt junior saw little action in the secondary this season, playing in one game, the win over Clemson.
S Maliki Wright: Did not play as a freshman this past season.
CB Kyren Condoll: The California native played in one game in 2024 and again saw little action this season.
CB Vontae Floyd: Limited to three games because of injury in 2025, the sophomore played in 11 games in 2024 and was one of four true freshmen to letter for Devils.
DT Terry Simmons Jr.: The redshirt sophomore, a 6-2, 305-pounder, played nine games in 2025 as a backup defensive tackle and was at Duke for three seasons.
Chip Alexander
The News & Observer
In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.
Dec. 26, 2025, 5:40 a.m. CT
NORMAN – For University of Oklahoma defensive lineman Danny Okoye, his current spot – as the face of a social media campaign seeking to spread awareness of a life-saving drug for those who have overdosed on opioids – was a case of fortuitous timing.
Okoye is the first of a series of OU student-athletes who will participate in an NIL (name, image and likeness) deal with the nonprofit HarborPath of Charlotte, North Carolina, to promote Narcan, the brand name under which the generic drug naloxone is distributed.
Dec. 26, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ET
- Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn has proposed the HUSTLE Act to create tax-deferred savings accounts for college athletes’ NIL income.
- The need for congressional intervention is questionable, given that other wealthy groups, like NFL players, do not receive similar legislative protection.
If the hollowness of the bowl season or the irrationality of the playoff system has you saddened by the state of college football, it could always be worse. Congress could get involved.
It’s already bad enough that NCAA apologists want Congress to grant college athletics an antitrust exemption. Now Tennessee Senator (and gubernatorial candidate) Marsha Blackburn, in a timely act of pandering, wants to give college athletes special tax-advantaged savings accounts – “for their own protection.”
Blackburn’s comically named “Helping Undergraduate Students Thrive with Long Term Earnings (HUSTLE Act) would allow certain college athletes to create tax-deferred accounts for their Name Image and Likeness (NIL) income.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m a big fan of saving and investing, especially in a tax-deferred vehicle. But the aim of this act ‒ somehow protecting young people from squandering their NIL riches ‒ raises an obvious question: Where exactly is the constitutional mandate (or even suggestion) for Congress to pass laws discouraging 19-year-old millionaires from buying expensive cars and jewelry?
If Blackburn is genuinely concerned about young, wealthy athletes squandering their money, why didn’t she start with the NFL? A widely cited 2009 Sports Illustrated article claimed that 78% of NFL players “face financial stress or bankruptcy” within two years of retirement. This figure was likely exaggerated, but a statistically sound study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that 15.7% of NFL players file for bankruptcy within 12 years of retiring. Yet this hasn’t prompted any urgent Congressional push to save professional athletes from themselves.
If age is really the determining factor in financial responsibility, why is the fastest growing demographic of bankruptcy filers over 65? Why is the median age of someone filing for bankruptcy 49 and not 29?
Blackburn could, of course, propose legislation allowing college athletes to participate in the existing tax-deferred retirement accounts at their respective universities, but that would concede that the players are employees ‒ something universities want to avoid at practically all costs.
Not to be outdone by the Senate, the House of Representatives proposed the SCORE Act, which would grant NCAA institutions exemptions from antitrust laws – essentially codifying the illegal wage collusion the schools practiced for decades ‒ while also legally declaring that players are not employees of the universities that pay for their athletic services. Too many old timers simply can’t accept the end of decades of illegal (and in my opinion, immoral) athletic department business practices, so they are begging Congress to protect them.
Even if you concede the premise that 20-year-olds are incapable of making wise financial decisions and require assistance, why would Congress be the entity to turn to for financial wisdom?
David Moon, president of Moon Capital Management, may be reached atdavid@mooncap.com.
stl.pony said:
Feel like it’s largely being paid for by sales tax the new stadium development will generate.
Not in finance, so someone should absolutely check my math/analysis on this.
State of Kansas has an 8.25% sales tax. For the sales tax to generate 3 billion, the total sales would need to be about 36 billion. According to this article the Royals stadium and Arrowhead stadium collectively generate 55 million a year in tax revenue. (Don’t know what the analysis is to produce that; admit it could be wrong.) If you round it up to 60 million a year, the break even point is 600+ years.
If you take the numbers the Chiefs put out, 1 billion in economic impact for the region and 29 million in tax revenue per year. The break even point from tax revenue would be 1800 years?
I don’t know what is considered the region for the economic impact evaluation and how that changes based on if the stadium is on the Missouri side or the Kansas side of Kansas City. I also remember reading a report about the state fair of Texas that claimed that events like the state fair and sporting events don’t necessarily generate additional economic activity in a region, it just concentrates it into the event rather the wider community. (Admittedly, that could mean more tax revenue for one city in the region over another.) In my layperson’s opinion, a sports stadium deal like this doesn’t seem to be as smart of a decision as offering economic incentives to a Toyota or other non-entertainment business to move to your city.
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