Link

Link

Chris Hill was poolside Wednesday afternoon when he answered the phone, relaxing after a round of golf. The former Utah athletic director’s playing partner? His longtime counterpart in Provo, ex-Brigham Young AD Tom Holmoe.

“When Tom announced his retirement, I told him we’d play a round to celebrate,” Hill explained. (Holmoe stepped down this spring after two decades in charge of BYU athletics.)

“Tom and I always got along. People don’t understand that because of the whole Utah-BYU thing. But the schools had a lot in common, and they still do. They’ll vote the same way on a lot of Big 12 stuff.

“But there are some differences, obviously.”

Hill and Holmoe spent most of their round — call it the Holy Fore! — chatting about their families, but they talked shop, as well.

There was no shortage of topics, what with the chaotic state of college sports, life in the Big 12, the landmark House vs. NCAA lawsuit settlement and BYU’s sudden success on the field (and court).

The era of unchecked NIL has gone exceedingly well for the Cougars, who possess one of the richest donor bases in the country. They aren’t alone — not even in the Big 12. Texas Tech, with funding from oil billionaire Cody Campbell, has acquired football and basketball talent at a rate that exceeds historical norms.

“As a Utah guy, yeah, I’m concerned,” Hill said. “You look at the dollars, and it’s just the reality. Utah has great support, and Utah will be fine. But it’s no secret that BYU has more wealth.”

The Big 12 hopes to end the unchecked NIL sooner than later. Along with the ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC — the named defendants in the House antitrust lawsuit — the conferences created the College Sports Commission (CSC) to clean up a marketplace that, for four years, has been tantamount to pay-for-play.

Under the CSC structure, all deals worth at least $600 must be reported to NIL Go, a technology platform created by Deloitte that will determine whether contracts fall within a reasonable range of compensation. Rejected deals can be tweaked and resubmitted. There’s even a pathway to arbitration.

Led by Bryan Seeley, a former chief investigator for Major League baseball, the CSC will have the authority to punish schools for playing athletes whose deals were not approved.

At least, that’s the plan.

“There will be challenges,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark explained in early June, following the House settlement. “But we’re very confident.

“Our schools want rules. We’re providing rules, and we will be governed by those rules. And if you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.”

Not everyone is convinced the CSC will effectively rein in pay-for-play and create a market of legitimate NIL, where the dollars paid match the services performed.

“In theory, it’s fine,” Hill said. “If they can enforce it, then it’s a different ballgame. But I’m skeptical. I just think they are going to get sued again and again until they can collectively bargain.”

Many share Hill’s gloomy outlook. The House settlement has not been codified by Congress. The NCAA does not have antitrust protection. Dozens of states have their own NIL laws on the books.

There is nothing and no one to stop an attorney from suing the CSC after an NIL deal is rejected. Why should a technology platform created by a company that’s paid by the conference be allowed to determine the reasonable range of compensation for services rendered?

The market determines the market, unless … the rules of the road have been collectively bargained.

You don’t see compensation lawsuits in the NFL or NBA, which have collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) between the leagues and the players’ unions.

But there are CBAs in college sports because there are no unions in college sports. In order to form a union, the athletes must be employees, and the schools do not want athletes to be declared employees.

For many university presidents, athletic directors and conference executives, athlete employment is a non-starter.

Hill disagrees.

“Students can be employees,” he said, referring to non-athletes who work while attending college. “I don’t know what the problem is. Just call them athlete-workers. There’s no reason why they can’t be employees.

“The NCAA is going to get sued again and again until there’s a CBA. I don’t see the end of it until they are employees with a union and contracts and buyouts.”

The timing of Hill’s golf game with Holmoe wasn’t lost on the man who led Utah athletics for 31 years: It came one day after BYU’s latest recruiting success.

On Tuesday, the Cougars secured a commitment from five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, a rising senior at Folsom (California) High School who will join the team in the spring of 2027, following a one-year church mission.

Lyons, who picked BYU over Oregon, is part of a recruiting class that ranks third in the Big 12.

This, after the Cougars landed AJ Dybantsa, the No. 2 basketball recruit in the class of 2025.

And after they reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in more than a decade.

And after they won 11 football games.

In the world of unchecked NIL, talent follows the dollars. With Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and others lending their support, BYU has possessed the dollars needed to acquire talent at the highest level.

Hill circled back to the College Sports Commission — the great equalizer, in theory.

“If that’s the reality, then I don’t think there will be much difference between the schools,” he said. “But I think (the commission) will get sued. And I’m worried about it.”

*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to wilnerhotline@bayareanewsgroup.com or call 408-920-5716

*** Follow me on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline

We’ve heard change is coming.

In a few days, the House v. NCAA settlement goes into effect. College sports will then enter a new era with significant changes in financial compensation for athletes.

But don’t be too concerned about all the impending changes. Some things won’t change. There will still be pageantry, rabid fan bases, championship games and, of course, cheating.

That won’t go away. The old saying in college sports is if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. Whether it be football, basketball, baseball or probably anything else, colleges will all be “trying.” Some just try harder than others.

Texas A&M Director of Athletics Trev Alberts acknowledged as much earlier this week when discussing the upcoming changes brought on by the settlement.

“Are we ever gonna stop (somebody) from taking a brown paper bag of money and giving it to a player?” Alberts asked rhetorically. “We can’t.”

Those who live in a Utopian world with unicorns may wonder if that would be the case. After all, college programs now have $20.5 million to share with athletes. Why cheat, then?

Anybody who’s ever taken a job for more money knows the answer. And throughout the history of college football, there has always been a bag man lurking in the shadows to offer more money.

An extra $10 grand — or much more — on the side might convince a recruit or transfer which program to join.

The guess here is that most illegal activity will be done under the guise of Name, Image & Likeness (NIL). A few years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that athletes can profit from NIL. Many have and still will.

Kay Naegeli, TexAgs

On Monday, Trev Alberts told the media that Texas A&M will fully fund 410 scholarships for the 2025-26 academic year, an increase from 255.20.

Business-owning boosters have offered big money for endorsements from star athletes. There’s nothing illegal about that.

However, under the House settlement, the accounting firm of Deloitte will act as an independent clearinghouse to ensure NIL deals represent fair market value.

But what if Oregon decides it needs a quarterback? What’s stopping Nike Chairman Phil Knight, a wealthy Oregon booster, from extending a seven-figure endorsement deal to a prospect? Who’s to say that’s fair market value for a Nike commercial?

That might not even be against the rules. But what if Auburn approached Apple CEO Tim Cook, an Auburn grad, about a similar deal and offered to fund it?

A university official contacts a big business, such as American Express or General Motors… You get the idea. The official asks the business to offer a player $1 million endorsement deal. The university then offers to funnel the $1 million to the company.

No doubt, even more creative ways will be schemed to move money under the table. Alberts knows this.

“Our culture in college athletics is ‘tell me the rules so I can get busy working on a strategy to circumvent them,’” he said. “We’re never going to get where we need to go in college athletics if we don’t recognize that.

“If there’s anything that should have taught us that it’s the unregulated market of the last three or four years. Everybody wants to be governed. We just want to make sure other conferences are governed, too.

“But will there be ways around it? Will there be people that test it? Absolutely?”

Alberts said there will be harsh penalties for violators. He said a new breed of diligent NCAA investigators will be waiting to identify and punish programs and coaches who break rules.

We’ve heard that before, right? The old NCAA wasn’t hesitant to deal out punishment. It’s just that the severity of punishments seemed to change depending on the offender.

Remember the line from old UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian? “The NCAA is so mad at Kentucky that they’re going to give Cleveland State two more years of probation.”

Need an example closer to home? In 1994, the NCAA ruled that some Texas A&M football players were paid for work that wasn’t done in a summer construction job. Never mind that other workers who were not athletes were also paid.

That didn’t matter to the NCAA, which banned A&M from competing for the Southwest Conference championship or playing in a bowl game. The Aggies, by the way, were undefeated that season.

Fast forward a dozen years. In 2006, Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar, offensive lineman J.D. Quinn and a walk-on were found to have been paid for work not performed by a Norman car dealership.

Oklahoma received a public reprimand and lost two scholarships for the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.

Alberts acknowledged that there cannot be similar disproportionate punishments moving forward.

“I will tell you — and I pray that it’s not Texas A&M, and we’re working hard to make sure it’s not —but you’re going to have to have a ‘brand’ school get a penalty that’s significant and it sticks,” Alberts said. “And you may have to do it more than once.”

Is Alberts really suggesting higher-profile programs be held to the same standard and face the same sanctions if caught cheating?

That would be nice for a change.

A change is coming to the construction of regular-season schedules in men’s and women’s college basketball.

On Wednesday, June 25, the NCAA Division I Council approved a rule allowing schools to play a maximum of 32 games before the postseason starting with the 2026-27 season. Teams are currently allowed a maximum of 31 regular-season games.

In the new approval, the committee’s new legislation also removes the current legislated requirements that teams are held to for participating in multiple-team events (MTE). The adoption of the 32-game maximum model was proposed by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees back in March.

REQUIRED READING: NCAA commissioners pledge to follow NIL rules governing college athletics after settlement

Though the 32-game model was approved, the NCAA’s news release on June 25 noted teams can play fewer games. The change also “does not limit the opportunity for multiple team events to operate or exist,” the release said.

The adoption of the 32-game regular-season model is the first change to the regular season schedule format in college basketball since the 2006-07 season.

Under the current structure, teams were able to schedule 28 or 29 regular-season games with either an additional two-game or three-game multiple-team event for a maximum of 31 games. Teams also had the option of scheduling 29 regular-season games without a multiple-team event part of their schedule.

“I greatly appreciate the significant amount of work that the MBOC and WBOC conducted, and the strong collaboration that took place, to put forth this legislation and look toward the future of regular-season scheduling. This proposed legislation does not require anyone to change their regular-season schedule and provides simplicity and greater flexibility as teams review their team and scheduling needs each season,” Dan Butterly, chair of the Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and commissioner of the Big West Conference, said in a statement in March.

“The opportunity very much exists for teams to continue to play in multiple-team or bracketed events to prepare them for postseason play.”

The NCAA noted that oversight committees determined that the rule change provided greater scheduling flexibility for Division I programs. Teams can now play an additional game at a multi-team event or schedule a late-season marquee non-conference game — perhaps at a neutral site — to help boost their NET ranking and Quad 1 record for the NCAA Tournament.

In a time of college basketball (and college athletics) where more neutral-site non-conference games are taking place and the first NIL-driven multi-team event, The Players’ Era Festival, is now up to 18 teams, the allowance of having that additional regular-season game can be financially beneficial for teams and players.

The 32-game regular season schedule adoption comes a month after the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved changes to the pace and flow of the game in men’s basketball. These adoptions included a coach’s challenge at any point in a game to review out-of-bounds calls, basket interference/goaltending and whether a secondary defender was in the restricted-area arc. 

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

Link

Link