NIL
Reebok’s basketball revival strategy: CEO Todd Krinsky on Angel Reese, Shaq
Todd Krinsky’s life’s work has been to make Reebok a preeminent shoe company. It’s no exaggeration. He has spent almost 33 years at the company, working his way up from the bottom to the top, where he now sits as the CEO of Reebok. Last year, the company announced that it was relaunching its basketball […]

Todd Krinsky’s life’s work has been to make Reebok a preeminent shoe company. It’s no exaggeration. He has spent almost 33 years at the company, working his way up from the bottom to the top, where he now sits as the CEO of Reebok.
Last year, the company announced that it was relaunching its basketball division, marking a return to an industry it had once been a vital part of. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Reebok was a significant player in the basketball sneaker market, buoyed by its relationships with Allen Iverson and Shaquille O’Neal. Then it went dormant for nearly two decades after it was sold to Adidas and went through a retrenchment.
Now, Shaq is back as president of the basketball unit, and Reebok is trying to become a force again, starting with a high-profile endorsement deal with Angel Reese. Krinsky spoke with The Athletic about how it’s trying to do that, why it’s trying to take a different approach to gaining customers and where NIL and Reese fit into that picture.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Basketball is a crowded sneaker and apparel ecosystem right now. Do you think you can be successful here? What does success look like?
The brand has always been a little more irreverent. We take a little bit more of a not-so-serious approach to the games. We embrace the culture of the game more. We embrace the lifestyle of the games. It’s what we (are) historically known for. And I think this is something we want to get back to.
I think we’ve also really been good at building icons. We’re not going to have half the league wear Reebok. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to really sign some unique personalities and build an icon business with a few athletes.
So I think it’s crowded. I think we’ve got great innovations. I think we’ve got a really strong institutional knowledge on building great product for athletes. And then I think we’re going to really break through with our kind of tone and the way we tell stories around the culture and the game. So we wouldn’t be getting back into it if we didn’t see a sharp line of sight.
But what success looks like for us is to be a major player again. We just launched the Netflix show, and one of the things Shaq says is, we were never No. 1, but we weren’t three either. We were right up there. And I think that’s our goal, to get back to being a major, major player again.
When you’re talking about tone and the players that you want to sign that have personality, how does that translate into selling shoes?
Intuitively, the brands that sell the most shoes are the ones that have the strongest connection with the consumer. And I think with today’s consumer, storytelling is so important. Cultural currency is so important. It’s not just about signing a player and hawking a shoe. That worked in, like, the ’90s.
I think it’s more now you have to be creative with what you’re saying, about why you signed the player and how the shoe came about, and what’s the story behind the product, and why these brands and the player got together. Storytelling is the most important currency in our industry today.
Angel Reese is the first basketball player you signed after relaunching the basketball brand. And she’s getting her signature shoe. Has that been announced when that’s coming out?
It’s going to be later in the season, this season.
Why is she the basketball player that you’re building around, and how does that fit into the larger storytelling and business arc?
If you think about when we’ve really been successful, it’s been having these bigger-than-life personalities that are embracing on- and off-the-court culture. Shaq was like that. He was larger than life. He wasn’t just a center. He transformed the game. And he had this bigger-than-life personality. Allen Iverson, we signed him in ’96. Obviously, he changed the way players look and dress. He changed the culture of the game. And I think that’s what Angel is.
Angel is a provocative disruptor. But she doesn’t do it just for clicks or whatever. She does it because she really has this very, kind of unique, rebellious attitude. And those are the type of athletes that — athletes have something to say. Athletes are more than just athletes, away from the court. That’s the formula of what’s really worked for us in the past, so we can build these icons, and she’s definitely one of them. She fits the Shaq/AI mentality.
She dominates the paint. Now she’s redefining style. Introducing the Angel Reese x Reebok collection—a bold mix of performance and unapologetic personality. Hoops meets high fashion. Game on. https://t.co/WvlsneAoxG pic.twitter.com/cBQojoRt1b
— Reebok (@Reebok) May 1, 2025
How much is the WNBA and women’s basketball a part of your core strategy?
I think back when we were in basketball before, it was like: You do the NBA, and WNBA may be a little bit of an afterthought. You have a player or two. I think the WNBA now is right in the center of everything we’re doing. It’s not like one or the other. WNBA, NBA, male, female athletes — we’re looking at the whole landscape of basketball. What’s going to move culture the most?
I would say the WNBA is right at the core of what we’re doing. We’ve got Angel, we’ve got the other athletes, like Dijonai (Carrington), we’ve signed. We’re going to sign more WNBA players as we go. I just think it’s an interesting time where the people are really, finally, respecting the play more than ever. And I think the players are embracing it with their own tunnel looks, and their own stories, and their own shoes now. That there’s so many signature shoes now in the women’s game, it’s awesome.
When my daughter played, it was like, there’s one or two choices or you were wearing a men’s shoe. And now it’s a totally new game now, which is great for the next generation of young girls as well.
With Shaq in particular, he is the president of your basketball division. And as you said, he is a TNT analyst, and he’s also the GM of basketball at Sacramento State. I see him in a commercial for I don’t even know how many things on TV. What’s the realistic commitment that he’s able to make to Reebok?
To be honest with you, it’s been unreal. I don’t know how he has enough time in the day, but I know he’s really passionate about this. And his name’s on it. We do FaceTime calls almost every week. He’s talking to a young player every two to three weeks. He’s calling me and saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to FaceTime this kid’s parents.’ And he’s in meetings. I mean, he really, really is committing time to this. And you’ll see it in the show, in the Netflix show, you see that he’s really engaged in meetings with the team.
Sometimes I say to him, I don’t know where he gets the time because he’s like, 24/7. I think it’s because he’s passionate about Reebok. I think it’s because his name is attached to this publicly that he’s really putting a lot of time into it.
I think your only NBA endorser right now is Matas Buzelis, right?
Yeah. We also have Tre Mann, who wears Iverson’s product. He’s a big Iverson fan, so we decided for him to wear Iverson’s product. But, yeah, that’s who we have right now. We’ve got a couple of young kids that are going to play in college this upcoming year, like Nate (Ament) and Darius (Acuff), and then we’re still looking for some other players, too.
With all due respect to Matas and Tre Mann, they don’t scream like great endorsers. Or I doubt someone you throw into a commercial, right? What’s your roadmap for adding more NBA players?
I think it’s a fair statement. Listen, the first thing we were trying to do was to emotionally connect again and to get young. So the players that we’ve signed, like Nate Ament and Matas, these are young kids that we really feel speak to who we want to be as a brand.
We didn’t want to go out right away first day and sign some big NBA player. We wanted to connect a little more emotionally with some of the work you’re seeing, have younger players wear the product first and then start to build the roster. We’re hoping that a lot of the young players we’re signing: Grow with us and become big NBA players. But we’re in year one of a pretty long journey, and the goal was to be young.
You’re saying you want to be associated with the young players. You want to build these almost grassroots relationships and position yourself a little bit differently. How do you go about doing that in terms of marketing Reebok?
We’re going to have marquee players wearing our shoes, but we may not have the traditional 30-second TV ad with the shoe. We believe that young basketball players today are consuming content a lot differently, and so we want to bring them along (on) the journey with us. Even when we launch signature products, it’s going to be a little bit different. It’s going to be more through the TikTok angle and more through these young players that we’re signing helping us tell the story.
So our first move was to sign Angel, who we feel is a great story, who has a backstory with Shaq, and to start with her as the first player. And now we’re signing more players, but the content is just going to be a little bit different. We’re going to be doing 10-second, 15-second, 20-second stories, versus a typical 30- or 60- (second) ad. And we’re going to build up to something.
We just feel like when you re-enter something like basketball, the idea of going out and spending $7 million on a player and then doing the shoes is so, I think, predictable, and I don’t think that’s where the young kid is today. We want to take it slow. We have some time to build this. We want to create the cultural currency with the athlete again.
What do you actually get out of the NIL deals with high school and college basketball players?
I think you definitely see results when they’re in high school and college. I think that the community of basketball today, through social media, is so small that all the young players that we’re trying to connect with — meaning the ones who will buy our shoes — they all look at Nate (Ament), they all follow Nate. They follow Darius (Acuff). They follow their stories.
We know this when we talk to kids. When you sit around about 10 (or so) 16-year-old kids, you say, “Who are you really following right now?” They’re going to mention a bunch of high school kids or freshmen in college, maybe before an NBA player at the time, or with NBA players.
So I think the business is getting younger and younger. And if you’re a great high school player or a great freshman or sophomore in college, you are influencing a culture maybe as much, or in some cases, close to some of the best NBA players.
When you’re signing Nate Ament or Darius Acuff or you’re getting into this NIL space, how does the cost of signing a high school or college player compare to the cost of signing an NBA player? Are they earning the same in a shoe deal? Or are they earning half as much? How do those numbers compare?
If you are a big-time signature NBA guy with a Nike or Adidas or a Puma, you’re definitely making a lot more money. That’s definitely a different stratosphere. But if you are a kind of good NBA player that has a shoe deal, and you are a really good NIL player, the numbers can be very similar.
Then a lot of times what happens is you sign an NIL player, and then you can sign him while he’s in school, but you can also sign when he gets to the league. You can have one deal, and you have all types of stipulations about what will happen when he gets to the NBA. So you lock him up when he’s in high school or college, and then when he turns pro you have an agreement with him. It becomes like a new agreement with different stipulations, but you have like a long-term contract you can do. You don’t just have one from college. … If New Balance signs Cooper Flagg, who went to Duke, they’ve already figured out when he becomes a pro. We’re doing those deals as well.
But the NIL deals are very lucrative deals now. Again, it gets back to what I said earlier: Why would it be? Because a young, top-10 high school player that has highlights every week and is being recruited by the best schools in the country can be as influential as a starting-five player in a major market in the NBA.
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
NIL
EA Sports College Football 26 Player Rankings: Top 20 Quarterbacks
EA Sports College Football 26 rolled out some more player rankings and revealed its top 20 quarterbacks. Get ready to play as these guys with their respective schools. Or of course, try to get them to transfer to your favorite program in dynasty mode! The list is pretty close to the standard ranking of quarterbacks […]

EA Sports College Football 26 rolled out some more player rankings and revealed its top 20 quarterbacks. Get ready to play as these guys with their respective schools.
Or of course, try to get them to transfer to your favorite program in dynasty mode! The list is pretty close to the standard ranking of quarterbacks throughout college football this year.
Without further ado, let’s dive into EA’s QB rankings for the new edition of the game. They are in order to go along with their actual rating.
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about Klubnik being the top quarterback in college football. Heck, some early mock drafts have him as the top QB, if not the No. 1 overall pick next spring.
Last season, he had a career year. Klubnik had 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 63.4% completion percentage to go along with 463 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

Nussmeier is a popular pick to win the Heisman Trophy this coming season, among other quarterbacks. But he’s proven he could fill the shoes of Jayden Daniels and could get LSU to the College Football Playoff this fall.
Last season, Nussmeier threw for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 64.2% completion percentage. Expect those types of numbers once again this fall.
3. Drew Allar, Penn State – 92
Drew Allar has the build, the skill and the poise to be one of the best QBs in the country. It’ll be interesting to see how he follows up last year’s run to the CFP semifinals with national championship expectations in 2025.
Allar was a more accurate quarterback last year and tossed 24 touchdowns. He also threw for 3,327 yards but had eight interceptions compared to two in 2023.
4. Sam Leavitt, Arizona State – 91
Leavitt broke out last season, helping the Sun Devils win the Big 12 and make the College Football Playoff. The hype train around Arizona State is still chugging along.
Last season, he threw for 2,885 yards, 24 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 61.7% completion percentage. He added 443 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

Sellers is a dual threat quarterback and would be fun to play in a video game wouldn’t he? Especially after his 2024 season and following some development, he’ll be a player to watch in the SEC this fall.
Last year, Sellers threw for 2,543 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 65.6% completion percentage. He also ran for 674 yards and seven touchdowns.
Mateer is about to get way more hype now that he’s in the SEC. That’s just the way it works despite his really productive season as a quarterback at Washington State.
Last year, he threw for 3,139 yards, 29 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 64.6% completion percentage. He also ran for 826 yards and 15 touchdowns. Good luck stopping him!
Beck gets a fresh start at Miami following his transfer this offseason. The former Georgia quarterback had a lot of ups with the Bulldogs, but also some downs and ended last year with a season-ending injury.
Last season, Beck was productive, but his completion percentage went down (64.7%) and interceptions went up (12). Still, he threw for 3,485 yards and 28 touchdowns in 13 games.

This man is a hammer! Horvath would run through a brick wall over passing it any day! In all seriousness, he’s a quality quarterback for Navy.
As a passer, Horvath only threw for 1,353 yards, 13 touchdowns, four interceptions and a 57.6% completion percentage. But as a runner, he’s a stud: 1,246 yards, 17 touchdowns and 7.1 yards per carry.
Manning was already getting a lot of hype going into his first full year as a starting quarterback. Now, the latest EA video game already has him as a top 10 player.
In limited opportunities, and two starts, Manning threw for 939 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions last year. He can also run really well, clocking in as one of the fastest QBs in the country, and he ran for 108 yards and four touchdowns on just 25 attempts.
10. DJ Lagway, Florida – 90
Lagway has a lot of potential as a quarterback and it seems like EA is banking on it as well. As long as he develops and stays healthy, he could really elevate Florida to new heights in 2025.
As a freshman, Lagway threw for 1,915 yards, 12 touchdowns, nine interceptions and a 59.9% completion percentage. If he cuts down on the turnovers and the offensive symmetry improves, it should be a good year.
11. Avery Johnson, Kansas State – 89
12. Kevin Jennings, SMU – 89
13. Darian Mensah, Duke – 89
14. Luke Altmyer, Illinois – 89
15. Kaidon Salter, Colorado – 88
16. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA – 88
17. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt – 88
18. Rocco Becht, Iowa State – 88
19. Jake Retzlaff, BYU – 88
20. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor – 88
NIL
City of Detroit claps back at Sophie Cunningham after WNBA expansion dig
The city of Detroit fired back at Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham for her comments Tuesday about it being selected for WNBA expansion. Cunningham said in an interview prior to that evening’s WNBA Commissioner Cup final that she didn’t know “how excited (players) are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).” That led to the […]

The city of Detroit fired back at Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham for her comments Tuesday about it being selected for WNBA expansion. Cunningham said in an interview prior to that evening’s WNBA Commissioner Cup final that she didn’t know “how excited (players) are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).”
That led to the official X account for the city of Detroit drumming up a response. It cited the success of the previous WNBA franchise, the Detroit Shock, which won three championships in its existence from 1998-2009. It also called Detroit a “sports city,” noting the success of its other professional teams.
“The last time we were home to a WNBA team (Detroit Shock) we ranked top five in attendance for five straight seasons, No. 1 in attendance for three straight seasons and set a single-game attendance record of 22,076 fans at Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals,” the post read. “Additionally more than 775,000 people were excited to come to Detroit for the 2024 NFL draft. Detroit is a sports town. We’re sure we’ll see the same excitement for the WNBA returning.”
The Detroit Shock were highly successful during their time as a franchise, and there was plenty of fan interest. They led the league in attendance for three straight seasons from 2006-08.
However, the team dropped to fifth in attendance and lost $2 million during its final season in 2009, according to the Detroit Free-Press. After owner Bill Davidson died, his wife, Karen, sold the team and the new owners relocated it to Tulsa. The franchise stayed in Tulsa through 2015 before relocating again, and is currently the Dallas Wings.
Detroit is also home to NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams. It has the fifth-most championships among the four major sports with 22 total.
Sophie Cunningham’s point was less about the city of Detroit supporting the team and more about whether players would want to live there. She argued that there were more desirable destinations, at least from her point of view.
“You want to listen to your players, too,” she said. “Where do they want to play? Where are they going to get excited to play and draw fans? I do think that Miami would have been a great one. Everyone loves Florida. Nashville is an amazing city. Kansas City, amazing opportunity. There’s a huge arena downtown that no one’s using. I think the women’s soccer league is showing that people draw.
“So I’m not so sure what the thought process is there. But at the end of the day, you also want to make sure that you’re not expanding our league too fast. …So I just think it’s kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don’t know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or (Cleveland).”
NIL
SEC Program Selling Jersey Patches to Sponsors
In the modern era of NIL, every team is looking for an advantage and a way to make more money for their NIL program to give their program an upper hand in recruiting and NIL for players. Revenue sharing should slow that when you look at trying to find an upper hand to […]

In the modern era of NIL, every team is looking for an advantage and a way to make more money for their NIL program to give their program an upper hand in recruiting and NIL for players.

Revenue sharing should slow that when you look at trying to find an upper hand to pay current players, but the revenue sharing model does not say anything about recruiting. As a result, some programs are still shelling out significant money on the recruiting trail.
So, how do programs make money? Some teams increase ticket prices, while others, like Tennessee, are putting sponsors’ logos on the football field.
UTEP v Tennessee
Another SEC team is looking at going the same route as Tennessee, with On3 Sports reporting that the LSU Tigers are planning to sell jersey patch advertisements. The advertisements are pending NCAA approval, according to the report.
The Tigers are one of the premier schools in the SEC, and appear to be spearheading one of the biggest changes in the SEC this upcoming season. Some teams, namely in the NBA and the NFL, sell jersey patch advertisements during training camp and, for the NBA, the regular season.
While Alabama has not yet made a change like that to the traditional Alabama uniform, would you want to see Alabama make this change and sell jersey patch advertisements?
Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men’s basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.
Alabama Thrashes LSU 42-13 in Death Valley
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
Alabama Football 2025 A-Day
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
Alabama is Upset by Michigan in 2024 Reliaquest Bowl
Gallery Credit: Wyatt Fulton
NIL
NIL Go
“NIL Go,” the new clearinghouse born from the House settlement, is rapidly becoming one of the most discussed and debated developments among college coaches, student-athletes, and their representatives. On December 9, 2024, the NCAA issued guidance requiring any third‑party deal leveraging a student-athlete’s name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) valued at $600 or more be submitted […]


“NIL Go,” the new clearinghouse born from the House settlement, is rapidly becoming one of the most discussed and debated developments among college coaches, student-athletes, and their representatives. On December 9, 2024, the NCAA issued guidance requiring any third‑party deal leveraging a student-athlete’s name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) valued at $600 or more be submitted for a fair‑market‑value evaluation. Enter Deloitte’s solution: NIL Go. The new platform forces the threshold deals through a three-step process: (1) payor association verification; (2) business purpose validation; and (3) range of compensation analysis.
STEP 1 Payor association verification begins the process by determining if a payor is considered an “associated” entity or individual, which serves as the threshold question regarding the need for a fair‑market‑value assessment. This evaluation uses criteria including: whether the payor primarily exists to support a school’s athletics program; whether the payor offers exclusive NIL opportunities for the school; if the payor has contributed over $50,000 across its lifespan to the school; and whether the payor employs or is owned by individuals connected to the school or its associated entities.
STEP 2 To make sure a prospective NIL deal has valid business purpose, schools must assess whether the payor’s intention is to legitimately leverage the student‑athlete’s NIL for advancing real business objectives. This assessment at the payor level requires the school to confirm the payor’s identity and intent. Moreover, at the deal level, the schools examine the specifics of the NIL agreement and supporting documentation to identify any concerns. Payors must demonstrate a legitimate commercial rationale behind the deal, such as using the student-athlete’s NIL to promote a good or service offered to the public for profit. Separately, the payor must also ensure the deal is and remains compliant with current NIL regulations and applicable state laws.
STEP 3 The range of compensation analysis conducted by Deloitte applies a multipoint review of the proposed deal to determine if the offered compensation is consistent with deals involving similarly situated student-athletes. Importantly, Deloitte’s analysis only targets third‑party NIL agreements with “associated” payors and relies on historical data from both collegiate and professional athlete deals (excluding squad-based value and recruiting incentives) as benchmarks. Deal factors considered in the multipoint review include (i) the student-athlete’s performance obligations, athletic performance and social media reach; (ii) external benchmarks; and (iii) the local demand and market reach of the student-athlete’s school and athletic program.
Finally, following submission and review, NIL Go will place the deal in one of three categories: “cleared,” “not cleared,” or “flagged for additional review.” The affected student-athlete has the following three options if their executed deal is designated as not cleared: (1) revise the terms of the third-party agreement and resubmit it to the NIL Go platform; (2) terminate the deal in its entirety, which includes the student-athlete refunding whatever monies they already received under the agreement; or (3) appeal Deloitte’s decision through a neutral arbitration process. If a student-athlete fails to act on any of the options and, alternatively, elects to carry out the deal as prescribed, the consequences for both the student-athlete and, if they are aware of the designation, the school could be severe. Student-athletes can anticipate the loss of athletic eligibility being an early consequence of defying the NIL Go process. Importantly, Deloitte does not block deals; instead, it informs student-athletes of the eligibility implications and lets them decide whether to proceed.
NIL Go gives schools and student‑athletes a systematic, transparent method for verifying the perceived legitimacy and objective fairness of NIL deals with associated third-party payors. The platform aims to balance compliance and opportunity, while helping safeguard NCAA eligibility. As more schools onboard the new platform and Deloitte’s processes improve, NIL Go will quickly become central to all qualifying third-party NIL agreements.
Ensuring that student-athletes keep these steps top-of-mind throughout the deal process can be challenging.
[View source.]
NIL
Dez Bryant blasts Nike for losing Jeremiah Smith to Adidas
Superstar Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith shocked the sports apparel world Wednesday by inking a lucrative NIL contract with Adidas, the major rival of Nike, which is the Buckeyes’ official team sponsor. Minutes after Smith’s deal with Adidas was announced, former NFL receiver Dez Bryant took to social media to call out Nike for quite […]

Superstar Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith shocked the sports apparel world Wednesday by inking a lucrative NIL contract with Adidas, the major rival of Nike, which is the Buckeyes’ official team sponsor. Minutes after Smith’s deal with Adidas was announced, former NFL receiver Dez Bryant took to social media to call out Nike for quite literally dropping the bag with Smith.
“Nike about to lose all credibility,” Bryant wrote Wednesday. “How did they lose Jeremiah Smith to adidas?”
Bryant also believes that by signing Smith — widely considered the best receiver in all of college football — Adidas is making a play for Nike’s spot as the top-ranked sports apparel brand.
“Adidas coming for the #1 spot,” Bryant tweeted.
Smith enters the 2025 college football season as the sport’s biggest brand name without the surname Manning after helping spark the Buckeyes to the 2024 College Football Playoff national championship with a Big Ten-best 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns on 76 receptions as a true freshman.
But given Nike’s longstanding relationship with Ohio State, which is in the midst of a 15-year apparel agreement that began in 2018, Smith’s signing with Nike’s biggest brand rival is already sending shockwaves through the sports apparel world.
“One of the most memorable moments from last season was losing my black stripe and officially becoming a Buckeye,” Smith said in a statement released by Adidas. “Fast forward a year and I’m blessed to be adding three, joining the fastest brand in football. It’s crazy to be partnering with a brand that has such a talented roster of players and that I’ve been wearing since I was a young kid. We’re not done yet.”
Jeremiah Smith vows to never lose to Michigan for rest of Ohio State career
Jeremiah Smith had a borderline perfect first season at Ohio State. The wide receiver busted onto the scene, catching 76 passes for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns during the Buckeyes’ national championship run.
He dazzled in every way possible, but there was one major blemish on his team’s season as a whole. Ohio State once again fell to Michigan, suffering a highly-publicized and scrutinized 13-10 loss to the Wolverines on Nov. 30.
Smith caught a touchdown in that game, part of a five catch, 35-yard performance. That was far below the standard he’s set for himself though, and the one he’ll be trying to reach in his sophomore season.
After all the success he’s enjoyed thus far in Columbus, the loss to Michigan still sticks in his craw. Ahead of the 2025 season, Smith spoke with Manny Navarro of The Athletic, where he vowed to never lose to the Wolverines again, as long as the wide receiver is suiting up for the Buckeyes.
“I’m not a sore loser, but I hate losing, and losing to that team up north was pretty crazy,” Smith said, via The Athletic. “In the end, I think it really helped us play the way we did in the playoffs. But I didn’t want to go to Ohio State and lose to that team up north.
“I just hate them. Just something about them. For the next two years, I promise you, I will not lose to them. I can’t lose to them in the next two years.”
— On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.
NIL
New rules
It’s a mess. I don’t think this is a correct fix. I think NIL is going to try turn this into something that is frowned upon if you try to take the Audit clearing house to court. I think there will be some sort of team rules or expectations that if you come to this […]

It’s a mess. I don’t think this is a correct fix.
I think NIL is going to try turn this into something that is frowned upon if you try to take the Audit clearing house to court. I think there will be some sort of team rules or expectations that if you come to this university than you are expected to follow and respect the process.
I am not a fan of that. I am not a fan of Ohio State following the rules to a T because our AD is leading the NIL board. I think that kind of relationship is a double edge sword. I hope the plan works and college football follows the Buckeyes example, but so far the SEC and other programs aren’t.
I believe in the Buckeyes, but all this mess takes the fun out of recruiting for me. I used to get fired up about following a kid from HS to signing day to draft day, and now a days that passion is slipping away for me.
-
Motorsports3 weeks ago
NASCAR Weekend Preview: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
-
College Sports3 weeks ago
IU basketball recruiting
-
Social Media3 weeks ago
Pune Athletes Make Global Mark at IRONMAN Hamburg and Brazil 2025
-
Health3 weeks ago
Gymnast MyKayla Skinner Claims Simone Biles 'Belittled and Ostracized' Her amid Riley …
-
Motorsports2 weeks ago
NASCAR Race Today: Mexico City start times, schedule and how to watch live on TV
-
Motorsports3 weeks ago
NASCAR in Mexico City: Where to watch, start time, stream, lineup, race preview for inaugural Viva Mexico 250
-
College Sports6 days ago
WAC to Rebrand to UAC, Add Five New Members in 2026
-
College Sports3 weeks ago
Livvy Dunne honors boyfriend Paul Skenes with twist on LSU jersey
-
Health3 weeks ago
Chicago Sky receive unfortunate reaction to 'mental health' statement with Angel Reese
-
Health2 weeks ago
Kyrie Irving's Strong Message Amid Men's Mental Health Awareness Month