Oregon State athletics is overhauling its structural approach to managing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes.

The Beavers announced the hiring of Kyle Bjornstad — a former basketball player and administrator at OSU who founded the Dam Nation collective in 2022 — as the athletic department’s new general manager on Wednesday.

Additionally, OSU announced a multi-year deal with marketing agency Blueprint Sports, which will take over operations of Dam Nation moving forward.

Blueprint works with more than 70 athletic departments across the country, having secured and paid out more than $100 million in NIL deals according to its website.

“Blueprint Sports will only increase the impact of Dam Nation as we continue to grow and support NIL opportunities for our student-athletes,” OSU athletic director Scott Barnes said in a release. “For our fans, this partnership will bring new opportunities, events and benefits that we anticipate being a leap forward in their overall experience.”

As GM, Bjornstad will oversee NIL operations for all of OSU’s sports teams, working side-by-side with on-site executives from Blueprint. Justin Johnson from Beaver Sports Properties will take on the role of NIL Business Manager for OSU.

“I think it’s important in this landscape to have fewer cooks in the kitchen,” Bjornstad told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an exclusive interview. “A person in a role like that needs to know every conversation that’s been had with the administration, coaches and the student-athletes along with their representatives. I will take the lead on those conversations.”

The Beavers spent a reported $1.5 million on Duke transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy this past offseason, and have been ramping up their NIL efforts in the wake of the House settlement. That includes “chipping away” at a $20.5 million NIL salary cap outlined in the settlement, Barnes told The Oregonian/OregonLive, but the school has yet to release its official numbers and isn’t expected to come close to college sports’ big spenders.

“I think (the House settlement) provides a school like Oregon State even more solid ground to stand on,” Bjornstad said. “We’ve had tremendous success just running it through the collective, even if a couple years ago we knew it was going to be rough when the Pac-12 did what it did. Some of the kids were leaving. But now, our retention is off the charts across the board. I think it’s a cultural thing. We shoot straight.”

Dam Nation will focus primarily on corporate deals and individual memberships, while Bjornstad’s role includes managing revenue share through OSU’s in-house NIL, built on money from solicited donors.

While the landscape remains unsettled across college sports with various legal challenges and constantly moving goalposts, the foundation of more universally accepted NIL standards should make it easier for schools like Oregon State to compete in the marketplace, Bjornstad said.

“I am beyond optimistic,” Bjornstad said. “Look at the situation we’re in with a sport like baseball. Given everything that has happened, look where we still are. Right where we want to be in Omaha. The football build back after the Pac-12 collapsed and our head coach leaving, now Trent Bray is right there. This (football) roster is going to be really fun and I think we’re going to win a lot of games. And if you look at other sports, like what coach (Scott) Rueck was able to rebuild, and Wayne (Tinkle) wins 20-plus games.

“We’re going to keep doing what we’ve always done: keep grinding and keep growing. And I think our fans should be excited about the future, but I think they should be beyond proud of the storm we’ve been able to weather together.”

Oregon State (0-0) vs. California (0-0)

• When: Saturday, Aug. 30
• Time: 7:30 p.m. PT
• Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
• TV channel: ESPN
• Stream: DirecTV (free trial) or Fubo (promotional offers). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
• Oregon State football 2025 season schedule, scores

— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon State Beavers for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at RClarke@Oregonian.com or on Twitter/X: @RyanTClarke. Find him on Bluesky: @ryantclarke.bsky.social.2

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 16 West Virginia University men’s soccer team opens its 65^th season on Thursday, Aug. 21, as it hosts Manhattan at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
Nick Farrell and Adam Zundell have the call of Thursday’s contest on ESPN+. The game also can be heard on 91.7 FM (WWVU) in Morgantown, and live stats are available at WVUsports.com.
 
Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets in advance by visiting WVUGAME.com or calling 1-800-WVU GAME. Tickets for Thursday’s game will be $1 in advance or at the gate. Tickets for WVU students are free with a valid student ID.
 

 
Before the gates open, Mountaineer Maniacs have a chance to socialize with games, food and music, and it is the first chance to pick up their Mountaineer Maniac shirt at halftime. Fans are also encouraged to wear white to the game.

The Mountaineers are coming off a 13-2-7 season and won the Sun Belt regular season championship with a 5-0-4 mark before claiming the double with the Sun Belt Tournament title, the first time in program history that WVU has won both in the same season.

 

Senior Marcus Caldeira returns to the Mountaineers and was named the 2025 Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. In his career, he has 28 goals and eight assists for a total of 64 points. Graduate defender Carlos Hernando and sophomore midfielder Isaac Scheer joined Caldeira on the Preseason All-Sun Belt Team.

 

West Virginia returns 13 players from last year’s squad, including five players – Caldeira, Scheer, Hernando, defender Tristan Pusztahegyi, and goalkeeper Marc Bonnaire – who started at least 10 games. Caldeira and Bonnaire were both named All-Southeast Region second team by United Soccer Coaches in 2024.

 

Fifteen newcomers join the fold this season with eight freshman and seven transfers as the Mountaineers had to replace 17 members from last season’s squad.

 

Manhattan is led by 1st-year head coach Tom Giovatto after serving one season as the LIU women’s head coach and 16 years as the men’s coach at St. Francis Brooklyn. The Jaspers were picked 7th in the 2025 Preseason Coaches poll after going 5-8-3 in 2024 and 3-3-2 in the MAAC.

 

Ziv Dahan, Henry Hamilton, and Nassim Akki were all named to the Preseason All-MAAC team. Dahan led the Jaspers last season with seven goals. Ludvig Målberg returns to man the goal for Manhattan after starting all 16 matches a season ago.

 

For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUMensSoccer on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

Oregon State athletics is overhauling its structural approach to managing Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals for student-athletes.

The Beavers announced the hiring of Kyle Bjornstad — a former basketball player and administrator at OSU who founded the Dam Nation collective in 2022 — as the athletic department’s new general manager on Wednesday.

Additionally, OSU announced a multi-year deal with marketing agency Blueprint Sports, which will take over operations of Dam Nation moving forward.

Blueprint works with more than 70 athletic departments across the country, having secured and paid out more than $100 million in NIL deals according to its website.

“Blueprint Sports will only increase the impact of Dam Nation as we continue to grow and support NIL opportunities for our student-athletes,” OSU athletic director Scott Barnes said in a release. “For our fans, this partnership will bring new opportunities, events and benefits that we anticipate being a leap forward in their overall experience.”

As GM, Bjornstad will oversee NIL operations for all of OSU’s sports teams, working side-by-side with on-site executives from Blueprint. Justin Johnson from Beaver Sports Properties will take on the role of NIL Business Manager for OSU.

“I think it’s important in this landscape to have fewer cooks in the kitchen,” Bjornstad told The Oregonian/OregonLive in an exclusive interview. “A person in a role like that needs to know every conversation that’s been had with the administration, coaches and the student-athletes along with their representatives. I will take the lead on those conversations.”

The Beavers spent a reported $1.5 million on Duke transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy this past offseason, and have been ramping up their NIL efforts in the wake of the House settlement. That includes “chipping away” at a $20.5 million NIL salary cap outlined in the settlement, Barnes told The Oregonian/OregonLive, but the school has yet to release its official numbers and isn’t expected to come close to college sports’ big spenders.

“I think (the House settlement) provides a school like Oregon State even more solid ground to stand on,” Bjornstad said. “We’ve had tremendous success just running it through the collective, even if a couple years ago we knew it was going to be rough when the Pac-12 did what it did. Some of the kids were leaving. But now, our retention is off the charts across the board. I think it’s a cultural thing. We shoot straight.”

Dam Nation will focus primarily on corporate deals and individual memberships, while Bjornstad’s role includes managing revenue share through OSU’s in-house NIL, built on money from solicited donors.

While the landscape remains unsettled across college sports with various legal challenges and constantly moving goalposts, the foundation of more universally accepted NIL standards should make it easier for schools like Oregon State to compete in the marketplace, Bjornstad said.

“I am beyond optimistic,” Bjornstad said. “Look at the situation we’re in with a sport like baseball. Given everything that has happened, look where we still are. Right where we want to be in Omaha. The football build back after the Pac-12 collapsed and our head coach leaving, now Trent Bray is right there. This (football) roster is going to be really fun and I think we’re going to win a lot of games. And if you look at other sports, like what coach (Scott) Rueck was able to rebuild, and Wayne (Tinkle) wins 20-plus games.

“We’re going to keep doing what we’ve always done: keep grinding and keep growing. And I think our fans should be excited about the future, but I think they should be beyond proud of the storm we’ve been able to weather together.”

Oregon State (0-0) vs. California (0-0)

• When: Saturday, Aug. 30
• Time: 7:30 p.m. PT
• Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
• TV channel: ESPN
• Stream: DirecTV (free trial) or Fubo (promotional offers). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
• Oregon State football 2025 season schedule, scores

— Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon State Beavers for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at RClarke@Oregonian.com or on Twitter/X: @RyanTClarke. Find him on Bluesky: @ryantclarke.bsky.social.2

A tale of two philosophies: How coaches are reacting to the NIL and Transfer Portal era

College basketball has changed. Anyone who has followed the sport for more than a decade can see it—the transfer portal spins faster than ever, NIL deals are everywhere, and the traditional idea of the student-athlete has shifted into something new. Coaches across the country are adjusting, sometimes reluctantly, to an era where rosters are built overnight and agents play as big a role as assistant coaches.

But while many legends of the game are airing their grievances, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope is embracing the challenge head-on. He isn’t crying about the new world of college basketball—he’s leaning into it.

“I believe it’s the greatest time to be a college coach,” Pope said recently. “It’s the most challenging, but also the most rewarding. … The players need us more than ever before.”

That single line defines Pope’s approach. While others see chaos, he sees opportunity. While some call it the end of college hoops as we knew it, Pope calls it the beginning of something greater.

A new era, a divided response

The landscape is undeniably different. In 2025 alone, over 2,600 players entered the college basketball transfer portal—a record number that underscores how fluid rosters have become. For context, that’s more than seven full rosters’ worth of talent hitting the open market. On top of that, NIL collectives and third-party handlers now operate as a major factor in recruiting and roster management.

This isn’t the world John Wooden coached in. And for many veteran coaches, it’s not a world they particularly like.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo is one of the most respected voices in the game, but he hasn’t hidden his frustration with the system.

“I’m still fist-fighting the fight,” Izzo recently said to Yahoo. “I still want to help kids live their dream… All the right reasons.”

Yet Izzo didn’t mince words when it came to the direction of the sport. “It was set up poorly by the people in charge,” he said, specifically pointing at the NCAA’s lack of leadership that allowed outside influence to take over.

His biggest concern? The “middlemen” now surrounding players, often more interested in short-term paydays than long-term development. For Izzo, who has led Michigan State to 25 straight NCAA tournaments, the frustration isn’t about athletes making money—it’s about losing the purity of what he believes college basketball should stand for. Many fans would agree.

Nick Saban’s warning shot

It’s not just basketball voices weighing in. Nick Saban, who retired from Alabama after rewriting the record books in college football, offered a stark perspective before stepping away.

“All the things that I believed in for all these years, 50 years of coaching, no longer exist in college athletics,” Saban said. “It was always about developing players. It was always about helping people be more successful in life.”

Saban, who built Alabama into the gold standard of college football, expressed frustration with what he sees as a pay-for-play model replacing the old system. “It’s whoever wants to pay the most money, raise the most money, buy the most players is going to have the best opportunity to win,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the spirit of college athletics.”

His wife, Terry, even noticed the cultural shift at their famous Sunday breakfasts with recruits. “All they care about is how much you’re going to pay them,” she told him. For Saban, that was the red alert: the game was no longer about development, and that stung.

Steve Alford: “It’s ridiculous”

Meanwhile, Nevada head coach Steve Alford has voiced his own dismay.

“Five years ago, I wasn’t in conversation saying, ‘How much do you want to be paid?’” Alford said. “I never thought that would happen in college basketball. … The way it is now is ridiculous. It’s utterly ridiculous. And it’s changed our game.”

Alford admitted coaches have no choice but to adapt, but he emphasized the chaos: “You’re going to have to replace eight, nine guys to a roster every year. The travel time that is across the country in these leagues, it makes no sense for that to be our model. But that is our model.”

He isn’t wrong—college basketball today looks a lot more like junior college turnover, with rosters being reassembled each spring and summer. He also brought up APR (Academic Progress Report) and how education is now a backseat to how much NIL players can get. Are colleges now just vehicles for money? When so few athletes go pro, are we failing the kids in not educating them?

Pope’s perspective: A different lens

This is where Pope stands apart. Instead of joining the chorus of complaints, he is taking the opposite stance.

Yes, the game is changing. Yes, it’s harder to build continuity, to teach four-year systems, to know what your roster will look like six months from now. But Pope refuses to let those challenges steal the joy of coaching.

“I think our players need us now more than ever,” Pope emphasized. Players are navigating things that none of us navigated at their age. And if we can be there to help them grow, both on and off the court, then this can be the most rewarding era of coaching we’ve ever seen. Just look at Trent Noah and how much he has developed.

This outlook isn’t just about optimism—it’s about strategy. By embracing the realities of NIL and the portal, Pope is positioning Kentucky to thrive in the modern era rather than fall behind.

Kentucky’s advantage: Tradition meets modern

Kentucky basketball is no stranger to reinventing itself. Under John Calipari, the Wildcats became the poster child for the “one-and-done” era, sending lottery picks to the NBA year after year. Calipari leaned into the changing recruiting environment and made it work, winning the 2012 national championship and reaching four Final Fours.

Now, Pope is tasked with leading Kentucky through the next era of upheaval. And much like Calipari did in 2009, he seems ready to make Kentucky a trendsetter once again.

The Wildcats remain one of the biggest brands in sports. NIL collectives are strong, the fan base is unmatched, and the program’s prestige means players can build their personal brand in Lexington like nowhere else. Pope’s refusal to resist change plays directly into those strengths.

Why attitude matters

In coaching, attitude trickles down. A coach who views NIL and the portal as a burden communicates that frustration to his staff, his players, and even his recruits. But a coach who embraces it creates an atmosphere of growth and adaptability.

Consider the numbers:

• Over 2,600 players in the 2025 portal.
• Nearly 20% of all Division I scholarship players changed schools last offseason.
• NIL valuations for top college stars now reach into the seven figures, according to On3’s NIL database.

That isn’t going away. The portal isn’t closing. NIL isn’t shrinking. The coaches who survive and thrive are those who can adapt and build within the system rather than fight against it.

Pope is proving that mindset matters as much as system. And in a sport as passionate and volatile as college basketball, that could make all the difference.

A glimpse at the future

So what does the future of college hoops look like? Probably more chaotic before it becomes stable. Lawsuits are ongoing about athlete employment status. Revenue-sharing models are being debated. And with every year, more and more players test the portal waters.

But Pope’s stance offers a lesson: the future isn’t to be feared, it’s to be shaped.

He may not have the Hall of Fame résumé of Izzo or the national titles of Saban, but Pope has something just as valuable in this moment—vision. He sees the mess and refuses to complain. He sees the challenge and refuses to back down.

Or, as Tom Petty might say: he won’t back down.

Conclusion

In this new world of college basketball, many coaches are asking what the game has lost. Mark Pope is asking what it can still become.

As Izzo, Saban, Alford, and others raise their concerns, Pope is building a blueprint for the next decade of coaching—one rooted in adaptability, opportunity, and belief in the players he leads.

And at Kentucky, that might be the edge the Wildcats need to stay on top of a sport that refuses to stop evolving.

Drew Holbrook is an avid Kentucky fan who has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time, he spends time with his family, and watching Premiere League soccer.