Penn State football lost out on a crew of recruits — many of whom opted to take their talents to Notre Dame. Joey O’Brien and Khary Adams were two of the most recent recruits to commit to the Fighting Irish over the Nittany Lions.

In recent developments with NIL, schools are now able to pay athletes directly. However, some schools are at a greater advantage than others given the resources they’re able to allocate per sport. In other words, not every athletics department has or will opt to reach the $20.5 million cap to give to their student-athletes.

“The way I kind of understand it is this is revenue sharing rules and NIL rules kind of are all under this umbrella,” Franklin said, according to Pro Football Network. “But I would also say that I really think it’s pretty much going to be everything. I think football is going to be run by this entity.”

College football spearheads a vast majority, at the very least, of athletics programs. Schools who have the funds to pay their athletes will naturally become more and more appealing to new recruits looking for their NCAA home in the near future.

“If you want to be a part of this, you’re in, and if you don’t want to be a part of it, then go play somewhere else,” Franklin said.

It can’t go unnoticed that Penn State is a big spender, and that’s expected to be showcased in its 2025-26 roster. One thing holding the Nittany Lions back, potentially though, is not setting aside funds to their incoming freshmen. Notre Dame as a whole, on the other hand, is a marketable brand that can and will compete with top-spending schools. It’s possible that NIL packages for incoming freshmen is part of that.

“[It’s] very similar to, I think maybe a Major League Baseball model, an NFL model,” Franklin said according to On3. “[This] is what they are trying to bring to college football.”

Despite knowing that college football will be run by this “entity,” Franklin intends to build a roster that comes from the relationships made with the coaches and team. This happened with transfer Trebor Pena.

“A lot of the financial descriptions of how that played out? None of those things were true regarding Penn State,” Franklin said. “At least based on our experience, they were nonfactors . . . in terms of what his deciding factors about coming to Penn State were,”

The Nittany Lions also searched for more funds to give to their top running backs, Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen. This is something that can stand out negatively to new recruits. While recruitment isn’t all about money, NIL packages can definitely sway a student-athlete one way or another if they have good relationships with various teams’ staffs.

It’s not upfront and they won’t commit to schools knowing they’ll be paid a certain amount as teams are not allowed to use NIL as a bargaining chip for high school recruits. However, when considering the school as a brand and market, it’s easier to narrow down where they’ll succeed the most on the field and in the bank.

At the end of the day, Franklin doesn’t want his team exclusively molded by NIL funds and the revenue-sharing model. What needs to happen for Penn State, though, is winning in those big game scenarios that can make, break, hurt, or help the season, roster, and future of the program as a whole. That’s the real bargaining chip that’s up for grabs. Notre Dame just currently happens to have an edge on Penn State in both of those matters.

The University of Wisconsin and its NIL collective VC Connect filed a joint lawsuit on Friday against the University of Miami alleging it knowingly induced one of the Badgers’ football players to abandon a lucrative name, image and likeness contract to play for the Florida school this upcoming season.

Allegations of tampering rarely get to this level and the 23-page lawsuit, which was filed in state court in Wisconsin and obtained by The Associated Press, is unusual. Depending on its resolution, it could have a a wider impact on future NIL deals across college athletics.

The player in question in the filing is referred to only as “Student-Athlete A.” But the case summary describes facts that line up with the situation involving cornerback Xavier Lucas, who last December announced his plans to enter the transfer portal.

Shortly afterward, Darren Heitner, who has been representing Lucas, indicated that Wisconsin was refusing to put Lucas’ name in the portal and that it was hindering his ability to talk with other schools. In January, Heitner announced that Lucas would be playing for Miami this fall.

The situation is fallout from the rapid changes engulfing college athletics, specifically a combination of two things: Athletes went to court and won the ability to transfer with much more freedom and the 2021 NCAA decision clearing the way for them to strike NIL endorsement deals now worth millions of dollars. That has changed the recruiting landscape and forced the issue of contracts and signed commitments to the fore.

“Indeed, student-athletes’ newfound NIL rights will be rendered meaningless if third parties are allowed to induce student-athletes to abandon their contractual commitments,” a portion of the lawsuit reads.

UW claims Miami interferred with athlete’s NIL

Wisconsin said in January that it had credible information that Miami and Lucas made impermissible contact with each other before the former Badgers cornerback decided to transfer.

Wisconsin and VC Connect allege that the inducement for Lucas to attend Miami happened within days of him entering his NIL agreement to play for the Badgers, and that they incurred substantial monetary and reputational harm. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and “a declaration that Miami’s conduct directed towards Student-Athlete A constituted tampering.”

A message left with the University of Miami seeking comment was not immediately returned. In a text message Friday, Heitner declined to comment on the lawsuit but he said that Lucas still plans to attend Miami and play football.

Wisconsin said it had the support of its leadership and the Big Ten Conference in filing the lawsuit, noting its commitment to “ensuring integrity and fundamental fairness in the evolving landscape of college athletics.”

“While we reluctantly bring this case, we stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field,” the statement said. “In addition to our legal action, we will continue to be proactive to protect the interests of our student-athletes, our program and the broader collegiate athletics community.

Lucas, who is from Pompano Beach, Florida, had 12 tackles, an interception and a sack as a freshman for Wisconsin last season.

Heitner said that Lucas hasn’t received any money from Wisconsin and therefore owes no money to the school. Heitner also argued that Wisconsin had violated an NCAA bylaw by not entering Lucas into the transfer database within two business days of the player’s request.

Wisconsin issued a statement at the time saying it hadn’t put Lucas’ name in the portal because he had entered a two-year binding NIL agreement.

In April, the surprise transfers of brothers Nico and Madden Iamaleava from Tennessee to UCLA prompted fresh questions about contracts and buyouts.

Nico Iamaleava, who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season, walked away from a reported $2.4 million NIL contract. Arkansas freshman quarterback Madden Iamaleava entered the portal after spring practices wrapped up.

Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek released a statement indicating he would support efforts by the Razorbacks’ NIL collective to enforce buyout clauses in athlete contracts. Iamaleava reportedly had a contract valued at $500,000 upon signing with Arkansas.

Related

ALGIERS — (AP) — Three people died and 81 were injured following the collapse of a stand after soccer club Mouloudia Club d’Alger won a ninth league title, Algerian authorities said Sunday.

An earlier toll was one dead and 50 injured but two fans subsequently died from their injuries following Saturday’s incident at the Stade Olympique du 5 Juillet 1962, according to a statement issued by the country’s Ministry of Health.

Algeria president Abdelmadjid Tebboune offered his condolences.

According to the website La Gazette du Fennec, a security barrier broke just as fans were getting ready to celebrate the title following a goalless draw between MC Alger and NC Magra.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

A lot is happening among Florida State Seminole athletics. Here’s a quick synopsis of the latest involving the Noles.

The biggest story was FSU shortstop Alex Lodise getting snubbed for the Golden Spikes Award on Saturday night. Lodise had already captured the coveted Dick Howser Trophy (College Baseball Player of the Year). However, the Golden Spikes Award (Best Amateur Baseball Player in the United States) was awarded to Arkansas’s Wehiwa Kapahulehua Aloy.

I have a question. If Alex Lodise was already awarded the College Baseball Player of the Year award, how could another college player win the Golden Spikes Award other than Lodise? That’s crazy work, but it’s not surprising when Aloy plays in the SEC.

Lodise had hit for a better average, better slugging percentage, better on-base percentage, and was ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

FSU baseball added another pitcher from the transfer portal on Saturday. Central Arkansas’s Charlie Christensen joins Kevin Mebil, Trey Beard, and Eli Putnam.

FSU football has some important visitors taking their official visits to FSU this weekend. Here are the guys you should monitor regarding potential commitments or not.

Here’s a list of players FSU football coaches can’t stop pursuing on the recruiting trail no matter what.

The FSU football social media team has put out some awesome videos and graphics lately. This one seems to show guys stepping up into leadership roles as players were putting in work during the summer.

We also discussed how FSU football recruiting is surging just as it did a year ago this time, but why the coaching staff can’t allow history to repeat itself on the field.

This one game on the 2025 schedule could help FSU land one of the top uncommitted players left in the 2026 recruiting cycle.

FSU expects to land its top priority at quarterback in the 2026 cycle now that he de-committed from Oklahoma.

Wednesday’s NBA draft could potentially feature a flurry of trades.

“Two first-round picks have already been traded, and when you talk to league executives, they think there’s five, six or seven or more in play,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during Saturday’s episode of The Hoop Collective (54:55 mark). “That doesn’t mean they’ll be traded, but there’s several in play, including one or two [picks] in the top 10, which you don’t often see top-10 picks moved.”

While the first two picks appear set in stone, with Dallas in line to take Duke’s Cooper Flagg and the San Antonio Spurs expected to select Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, the wheeling and dealing could begin as soon as No. 3, when the Philadelphia 76ers are on the clock.

With no real consensus regarding who is the No. 3 prospect on the board—the group of Ace Bailey (who hasn’t worked out with any teams), VJ Edgecombe, Tre Johnson and Kon Knueppel, among others, appear to all be in the running—there could be movement in the top 10 as teams look to move either up or down the board.

There are also expected to be plenty of trades in general this offseason, with most teams lacking cap space, which could impact the draft as well. So it may end up being a fun, frantic event.