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Rugby, CWU's lone Division I program, loses varsity sponsorship

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8 months ago

April 20, 2025

Rugby, CWU's lone Division I program, loses varsity sponsorship

Athletic Director, Dennis Francois, and President Jim Wohlpart sent out an email on April 15, stating, “CWU Athletics has decided to discontinue varsity sponsorship of our men’s and women’s rugby programs at the end of the current academic year.” The school will honor the current rugby scholarships for one additional year and plans to help athletes through the transfer portal process.

Since the creation of both the mens and womens rugby programs at CWU, the women have finished second in the nation twice while the men have consistently been a top-five performing program in the nation.

The program has been the most successful at CWU in terms of producing professional talent, with 12 players being drafted to Major League Rugby and one to the Japanese Top League under head coach Todd Thornley. Both the men and women have had Wildcats represent the USA in rugby.

When the Rugby programs were granted varsity status in 2015, it was done on the condition that they wouldn’t harm the other athletic programs.

Rugby Athletes Initial Thoughts

“Devastating is the best word that a lot of us have used to describe this,” Quaid Hunt, the junior prop said. “I mean, we played our game, we got home, turned in our gear and then the day after we had an informal meeting … Dennis [Francois] was there, he broke the news to the team in pretty short order, not a lot of detail. That was it, it’s all over.”

Fifth year loose forward Philomena Namosimalua spoke on how the team carries themselves and the sisterhood that is being broken up. “We’re a Division I program,

it means a lot when we say that, we rep that with pride. We have been repping Central with pride these past years. It feels very disheartening. I really feel for these girls,” Namosimalua said. “These girls don’t deserve this, and the men’s side doesn’t deserve it either … They are breaking up a family for real. I call these girls my sisters, we’ve been through so much as a team and we lean on one another during hard times. It just sucks to know when we had Central’s back, they didn’t have ours.”

The athletes were caught off guard by the news, going into the meeting unsure of what would come out of it. “We were sat down for a meeting in the second story of the Pav, and we were kind of making jokes beforehand,” Bryn Jones, the freshman scrum-half said. “We didn’t know what the meeting was about. Just no clue, the last thing in everyone’s mind was that rugby would be cut. The second we walked in there, they told us. Everyone just sat there in silence.”

Sophomore prop Macey Dunn shared her reaction to the news as well as the impact it has on the athletes. “It was shocking,” Dunn said. “Since then it has been hard for us to stop crying at this point. Like, that sounds derived, but it’s the reality of it. We’ve been devastated as a team and a community. It is impacting a lot more people in the community, way more than the athletic department realizes.”

“At first, I thought they were joking,” Senior hooker Campbell Robb said. “It came from Dennis and we thought it was just going to be him congratulating us on the season and for the rugby programs making it to the national playoffs … When he got straight to the point and said that we’re cutting both programs, the emotion drained from the room. It was terrible news, people kind of threw their hats on the ground, other people’s faces just dropped.”

CWU alumni Noah Wright, who now plays for the Seattle Rugby Club, looked at both angles of the news. “Looking at it from both perspectives, one as an alumni, but also as an objective observer, is understanding college is a business. College sports are a business and there has to be that idea of cost versus gain,” Wright said. “As an alumni it is really tough to see the program I gave five years to and made so many memories with, made so many long lasting connections through, and now the opportunities that I’ve been given, the joy that I experienced, is now being stripped away from future rugby players.”

Transfer Portal

With many of the CWU Rugby players now having to hit the transfer portal, those athletes must now search for their next university to call home. Although a problem arises of other universities transfer windows being closed already.

“A lot of schools that have opportunities for us have passed the transfer deadline. Being from California, schools like Cal Poly and UCLA, in-state tuition would be a lot easier for us, but this late, I think Cal Poly’s transfer portal ended long ago on Dec. 1. We are way past that,” Jones said. “Now we just have to reach out to coaches and see if we can get an exemption or anything to do with that and just hope for the best.”

Dunn plans to transfer to a new university and detailed the struggles of finding a new place to take her talents to. “My plan? My plan is to transfer to another school. Unfortunately, finding out that we have to transfer in the spring has been really difficult because recruitment usually gets done at the beginning of the year, and at that point most of the rosters are set for next year already,” Dunn said. “So to find scholarships and places to play is going to be difficult for every single person trying to transfer. So, I’m hoping I can find a place to go play.”

“I think the way it was handled, and the way they knew this axing of the program was going to happen at the beginning of winter quarter and to not share that with us until now is disgusting,” Robb said. “Now, this has put a huge bump in a lot of peoples’ roads and screwed up their career. So I hope they know that is hanging over their heads.”

Aja Good, a junior center, talked about transferring as an international student as well as how transferring impacts the academic side of her collegiate career. “A bunch of the international students from both programs have set up a meeting next week with our international office at the school to figure out how this will impact our visa, or see how it affects our progress in academics,” Good said. “From the research I’ve done, it looks like a maximum of 60 to 90 credits would be able to transfer. After this quarter, I would have completed 145 credits … I would lose so much progress academically that I would have to do another year or two of school to make up for what I lost transferring.

Effect on the Community

Ellensburg Youth Rugby is a big part of the Ruby community here in Ellensburg with CWU’s mens and womens teams spending plenty of time helping out the youth. Many of those children in the program have dreamed of representing the crimson and black.

“Rugby is an up and coming and growing sport, and it has been for so many years. Our team was really the grassroots for all those young girls who, especially in our community with Ellensburg Youth Rugby, they want to compete at a high level and not have to move far away from home,” Good said. “I chose Central because of the small town culture and how homey it felt and how supportive it felt being in a small town at a great school. Now, it’s almost like my inner childhood dreams have just been crushed and totally disregarded.”

Senior center Rena Tinoisamoa added onto the sisterhood that was built and the impacts that they left on the community. “We all rely on each other, whether that’s physically or mentally, we are always there to have a shoulder for someone to cry on or to just uplift one another. Mens and womens rugby has always made it a point to go support every other team on this campus and cheer our loudest, because we would like that support as well, but really because we are proud to wear Central across our chests,” Tinoisamoa said. “We even go to the local teams, it’s not just for hours, it is to help grow the game in America and to give people someone to look up to. We wanted to leave the jersey better than when we found it, whether that was through our school or through helping the community no matter what.”

“Helping out with the Ellensburg Youth rugby Club, that’s been a part of how we;ve grown as a program. We are trying to develop the next generation of players,” Robb said. “The main guy behind this, Rob Ford, he made this a Division I program way back when, and now he’s trying to develop youth rugby. It’s gonna be sad and I hate to say it, but it’s going to be much harder to keep up and running without CWU Rugby.”

Will CWU’s Rugby Club make a comeback?

With the varsity sponsorship gone, the players who stick around have the option to from a club team, which was the way the program began in the first place. The club would need to present the idea to the student body and if it were to be approved then the team would have to raise their own funds.

Lily Thomas, the junior scrum-half was not fond of the idea of a rugby club. “I mean, I love to see the community grow, but this is a place where we have fostered an environment for elite athletes which belong to a varsity program,” Thomas said. “ These men and women of the program deserve to play for high caliber Division I teams or even National teams. A club is not the fit for the community we have built here.”

“The whole idea of the rugby club, I think it’s like attempting to put a band-aid over a broken arm or severed limb … The idea of a rugby club,” Hunt said.

Tinoisamoa shared her mixed thoughts on the idea of a club forming. “I think it’s a slap in the face. Especially because so many people worked hard to play Division I Rugby. They put in their blood, sweat and tears, then it was just all swept from under us,” Tinoisamoa said. “But I wouldn’t mind if there was a club. Just because all rugby players want to share the sport with everyone and continue to grow the game.”

Saying goodbye to CWU Rugby

“I want to highlight that the experience at Central Washington University has been one of the greatest experiences of my life without question,” Dunn said. “The athletic training staff has helped me make a full recovery, the coaches gave me opportunities. To not be backed by the institution itself and people that are the faces of the institution, it is heartbreaking because I feel like we represented this university so well.

Robb shared a message to Central Washington University. “To Central Washington, I think you have lost two of the best programs you’ll see in the next couple decades,” Robb said. “We were definitely on the come up, we were very close to winning the national championship this year. It is going to be something you’re going to look back on and majorly regret.”

Tinoisamoa reflected back on her past four years representing the Wildcats. “I am very upset, but I am grateful to be a Wildcat and am forever grateful to be on a varsity rugby team, especially the womens. I’m glad I was able to grow as a player despite what we were given.

“I am grateful that Central did give the opportunity for a rugby team in the first place. We’ve had a varsity team for almost 10 years and people shouldn’t forget that. There have been lots of good players and even more great memories from Central Rugby,” Hunt said. “Just because of this decision, doesn’t mean we can’t cherish those.”

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2026 football schedule change announced

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31 minutes ago

December 5, 2025

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Major college football program jumps 96 spots in updated recruiting rankings

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1 hour ago

December 5, 2025

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Blacksburg’s recruiting thermometer spiked within days of James Franklin’s arrival.

The former Penn State coach was introduced by Virginia Tech on November 17 after a 12-season run with the Nittany Lions that saw him win a Big Ten title, appear in the 2024 College Football Playoff semifinal, and leave with a 128-60 overall record.

In just over two weeks since taking the Hokies job, Franklin has already translated relationships and urgency into rapid sign-and-flip activity that dramatically improved the program’s industry rankings.

Industry trackers pegged Virginia Tech outside the top 100 (No. 121) on November 25; by Tuesday, the program had climbed up 96 spots to No. 25 after a string of commitments and flips, several of them former Penn State pledges.

Over a short window, Franklin and his staff flipped multiple four-star prospects, adding playmakers on both lines and at skill positions.

Some of the biggest moves include flipping six four-star recruits — LB Terry Wiggins, QB Troy Huhn, TE Pierce Petersohn, WR Davion Brown, OT Marlen Bright, and RB Messiah Mickens — all of whom decommitted from Penn State after Franklin’s firing.

That volume, not just a single headline recruit, is what pushed the Hokies up industry leaderboards.

Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin. — Blacksburg, VA, USA; Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin speaks at the press conference at Cassell Coliseum. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Franklin’s early, unceremonious exit at 3-3 hasn’t disrupted his recruiting relationships.

For Virginia Tech, after a 3-9 season and a mid-season coaching change, the immediate priority was reestablishing connections and winning back recruits.

Franklin’s staff accomplished that quickly, which gives athletic directors, donors, and fans visible proof the program can compete for top regional talent again.

Virginia Tech’s 2026 schedule features home games against VMI, Old Dominion, and James Madison, along with a road test at Maryland before an ACC slate that features Clemson, Miami, NC State, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Boston College, California, and Virginia.

If victories don’t come early, the recruiting spike risks fading before Franklin’s rebuild fully takes shape.

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College Football TV Ratings: Top 10 most-watched games of Week 14

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2 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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The final week of the regular season delivered plenty of rivalry flare. It was also an opportunity for networks to score more TV ratings wins to close out the college football campaign, and On3 is breaking down the most-watched games of Week 14.

The Week 14 slate began on Thanksgiving with Navy vs. Memphis before a jam-packed Black Friday slate of SEC rivalry games. From there, Saturday had more marquee matchups, headlined by Michigan vs. Ohio State in the early window, which became the most-watched college football game of the 2025 season.

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On3 obtained Nielsen Big Data + Panel ratings data for the most-watched rivalry games of Week 14. Here is the full breakdown of the week’s college football TV ratings.

Note: SEC Network, ACC Network and CBS Sports Network do not pay for Nielsen to measure viewership.

Michigan vs. Ohio State

Date/Time: Nov. 29, Noon ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 18.4 million

The Game was once again a big draw in Week 14 and became the most-watched game of the season. Ohio State’s victory over Michigan averaged 18.4 million viewers on FOX to lead the charge as the Buckeyes ended their losing streak against the Wolverines.

Texas vs. Texas A&M

Texas QB Arch Manning in the Lone Star Showdown — © Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Date/Time: Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 13.0 million

The Lone Star Showdown had plenty at stake as Texas A&M headed to Texas. The Longhorns came away victorious, though, pulling off the upset in primetime on Black Friday in front of 13 million viewers on ABC.

Alabama vs. Auburn

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 11.3 million

One of college football’s most storied rivalries returned to Jordan-Hare Stadium and it lived up to the billing. Alabama nearly saw a commanding lead disappear before eventually fighting off Auburn in the Iron Bowl, which drew 11.3 million viewers for ABC’s Saturday night game.

Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

Date/Time: Nov. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 8.7 million

The Clean, Old Fashioned Hate game saw two top teams in their respective conferences square off. Ultimately, Georgia rose to the occasion in a big way, handling Georgia Tech with ease at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the rivalry affair.

LSU vs. Oklahoma

Oklahoma vs. LSU in Week 14 — © BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 6.4 million

Needing a win to continue its quest for a College Football Playoff berth, Oklahoma did just that in the late-afternoon window in Week 14. The Sooners took down LSU in Norman to put themselves in strong position in the 12-team bracket.

Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State

Date/Time: Nov. 28, Noon ET
Channel: ABC
Viewers: 5.2 million

All eyes were on the Egg Bowl as the Black Friday slate began as Ole Miss took down Mississippi State. It turned out to be the last game for Lane Kiffin as the Rebels’ head coach, and 5.2 million viewers were dialed in to watch.

Oregon vs. Washington

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 4.3 million

In an old Pac-12 showdown, Oregon headed to Seattle for a late-afternoon matchup against Washington. The Ducks continued their strong season, taking down the Huskies in CBS’ Big Ten game – and the regular-season finale for analyst Gary Danielson.

Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee

Vanderbilt QB Diego Pavia vs. Tennessee — © Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: ESPN
Viewers: 4.0 million

The Diego Pavia Show arrived on Rocky Top as Vanderbilt took down Tennessee. The electrifying Commodores quarterback continued to make his case for the Heisman Trophy and did so on the big stage with 4.0 million people tuned to ESPN.

Iowa vs. Nebraska

Date/Time: Nov. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: CBS
Viewers: 3.8 million

A top Big Ten rivalry looked a bit different this year as both Iowa and Nebraska’s offenses showed out early. But the Hawkeyes kept their foot to the floor, taking down the Huskers 40-16 in one of the Top 10 most-watched games of Week 14.

Cincinnati vs. TCU

Date/Time: Nov. 29, 3:30 p.m. ET
Channel: FOX
Viewers: 2.74 million

Immediately following Michigan-Ohio State, TCU vs. Cincinnati also drew strong numbers for FOX. The Horned Frogs handed the Bearcats a fourth straight loss to end the season and get to the 8-win mark for the 2025 season.

Indiana vs. Purdue (Nov. 28, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) – 2.69 million
USC vs. UCLA (Nov. 29, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC) – 2.2 million

With 11 games topping 10 million viewers this year, college football put together a huge year for TV ratings. Three of the Top 10 most-watched games of the regular season came in Week 14, and it’s now on to conference championships.

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SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey calls for changes to college football calendar after Lane Kiffin split with Ole Miss for LSU

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4 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Your Sports Nation

If the Lane Kiffin to LSU saga exposed one thing, it was that the current college football calendar is really not conducive to major coaching changes. There are simply too many variables involved.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was asked if the league could put into place some kind of rule that would prevent one program from pulling another program’s coach before the end of a season. Realistically, it cannot.

“You have to go back a number of years, we had a rule about responsibility for outreach if you were going to contact another coach,” Sankey explained. “Our outside legal counsel suggested for anti-trust reasons that it be eliminated, which it was years and years ago. I think that’s an example of the difficulty just legislating at a conference level.”

In fact, Sankey essentially predicted some of the chaos that unfolded with the Lane Kiffin saga. He knew having so many things packed into one area of the calendar was going to create some unintended consequences.

“You can go find my quotes where I warned that an early signing period added in December would change the calendar and the timing of coach changes,” Sankey said. “I think now there are more factors involved. But, in fact, going back to the moment where we added the December signing period, you saw earlier terminations of coaches during the season, and then the need to rapidly hire a coach in late November and early December.”

That’s exactly what happened this offseason. Both Florida and LSU fired their coaches to go with weeks remaining in the season, kicking off the Lane Kiffin sweepstakes.

LSU eventually got the upper hand, but even then, the hiring was messy. There were reportedly ultimatums given to staffers looking to join Kiffin, though those claims were later disputed. All of this in the middle of a playoff run for Ole Miss.

Regardless, the Lane Kiffin ordeal clarified for many people that change is needed. Sankey offered a few avenues.

“There are opportunities for adjustments to the calendar that, at least in my view, probably won’t solve everything but could provide a healthier environment,” he said. “And where there are solutions, so that you’re not disrupting a team’s season, I think those should be pursued.

“Unfortunately the environment we’re in doesn’t allow and hasn’t resulted in some of the changes that even the basic change like removing that early signing period from kind of compelling people to make change rapidly has taken place. Can changes be made? Absolutely. Is it just the recruiting calendar? Likely not.”

What other solutions could there be? How can a Lane Kiffin 2.0 be averted?

“Perhaps it’s the competitive calendar that can be explored,” Sankey said. “But those are multi-level issues where people have different opinions. We’ve added a transfer portal on top of that signing period that adds to the complexity.

“But I think everyone would agree, and forget particular circumstances, you take a step back and whether it’s a roster or a coaching staff, looking at something other than maybe a medical emergency, we should be able to have competition through the year with those rosters and coaching staffs intact. And we ought to figure out how we can adjust collectively on a national basis to make that happen.”

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Some thoughts on the Cookie Man and college football’s funniest coaching search so far

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December 5, 2025

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The trouble with trying to plan an editorial calendar in advance is stuff just keeps happening. I had a different story planned for today, but recent events have caused me to want to speak from the heart about something else.

Friends, I’d like to talk about the Cookie Man

As most of you know, BYU is owned and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as the Mormons. Devout Mormons do not drink alcohol, do not smoke, do not consume THC beverages or edibles, do not view pornography, do not gamble and generally do not participate in many of American society’s socially acceptable vices. Shoot, they don’t even drink coffee.

So what do you do when you need to temporarily dull the pain of being alive but are theologically prohibited from doing what everybody else does? You eat junk food. Utah County loves it some fancy soda pop and 1,500-calorie cookies.

Which is why it’s so funny that perhaps the most visible booster during the Kalani Sitake will-he-or-won’t-he-go-to-Penn-State storyline was Jason McGowan, the CEO of Crumbl Cookies. According to the Extra Points style guide, McGowan will henceforth be referred to as either “Big Cookie” or “the Cookie Man” in this publication.

It’s not every day that the public-facing booster of a fan base produces something so deeply aligned with that market. It’d be like if the biggest Wisconsin bag man were a cheese magnate, the biggest Idaho donor were the CEO of All the Potatoes, or the biggest Rutgers booster working in, uh, waste management.

As poet laureate and sports economist Lil Wayne once remarked, “real G’s move in silence like lasagna.” The boosters you hear about on Twitter — the people who are constantly talking to message-board owners — aren’t usually the ones throwing the biggest checks around. Those deep-pocketed boosters also typically don’t come from fun industries. There are exceptions, but across most schools, the biggest athletic boosters are folks involved in law, tech, high finance and, occasionally, agriculture.

I’ve talked to a few folks connected to BYU over the past few days, and I’m quite confident that was also the case here. It’s very funny to write “BIG COOKIE DEFEATS PENN STATE” or “COOKIE MAN OUTBIDS BIG TEN BLUEBLOOD” or something, but that isn’t actually what happened. The Cookie Man helped BYU keep Sitake, but if we’re interested in being Accurate Serious Professionals, it’s worth noting that Penn State’s contract offer was still more money than what BYU ultimately paid the coach, and that money didn’t all come from the Cookie Man.

It would be very funny if that money came from other LDS-adjacent industries (BIG MINIVAN! BIG UNFASHIONABLY MODEST FORMAL DRESSES! BIG FOLDING CHAIR!), but I imagine its sources were boring stuff like “executives at Goldman” or “various Silicon Slopes tech companies.” That’s more common, but it doesn’t make a good tweet.

Also, speaking of BYU and money …

Part of what makes this storyline so interesting to me, specifically, as a national college sports writer and also a guy who was a Mormon for a really long time, is how unlikely it would have seemed even just a few years ago.

BYU — and, for that matter, LDS institutions generally — has a reputation for not really paying top dollar anywhere. If you’re a professor, a baseball coach, a computer programmer or a construction manager, chances are, you can make more money doing what you do somewhere else. Part of that is a reflection of Utah’s labor market, but part of it is also ideological. BYU doesn’t want people attached to the institution by golden handcuffs. They want folks who want to be there. Do I always agree with that thinking? No, but I understand it.

By paying a football coach in the neighborhood of $9 million (as reported here and here), coupled with the investment in the men’s basketball program, it’s clear that BYU is prepared to spend competitively in the market. Whether that attitude changes elsewhere within church employment is interesting to me, but likely outside the scope of this newsletter.

I do think it’s worth noting where that money is coming from. BYU is a private school, and as such isn’t obligated to share contracts, MFRS reports or financial info at all, no matter how many times I ask very nicely. So I don’t have specific receipts.

But I do know that LDS church officials are very sensitive to the idea that specific church funds would be used for athletic payrolls, coach or athlete. Devout Latter-day Saints also pay a 10 percent tithe on their income to the church, money that is used to pay for educational, charitable and ecclesiastical operations around the globe. The idea that some widow’s mite in northern Brazil was used to pay LJ Martin would be a scandal … if not to the world, then certainly to most of the church community.

I’ve been told increased athletic investments are driven primarily by donors, rather than existing operational funds. And while I’d love to actually look at the books myself, I legitimately do believe that.

I’ll be curious, as senior church leadership becomes more global, or as public frustration with the status quo of college sports grows, whether there will be internal pushback on the optics of paying this kind of money. But maybe not! As the last 100-plus years have shown us, fans and the academy might get upset about rising expenses or ideological shifts … but they hate losing even more.

FWIW, I think Sitake is a very good football coach and worth locking up for BYU, especially given the paucity of other experienced LDS football coaching candidates. Will Penn State’s hire work out? Or any of these other hires? I have no idea. Can’t-miss hires fail all the time, and fourth choice candidates sometimes turn out to be the right ones.

A few quick back-of-the-notebook thoughts:

It looks like the SCORE Act, the Republican-driven college sports legislation that would have codified much of the House settlement terms, is dead … for now. Democratic leadership whipped against the vote, and just enough Republicans defected to keep the thing from passing. My read on the situation is that the defeat of SCORE shouldn’t be read as a bipartisan rejection of the idea that Congress shouldn’t get involved in these issues. In fact, at least one GOP rep, Chip Roy (TX), is saying that Congress should be more involved. I look at this more as a reminder that issues that have nothing to do with college sports can impact the legislative calendar, and the path to getting anything passed right now is razor-thin.
Anyway, I think this about sums it up:

Here’s what else we’ve been working on:

On Monday, I laid out the good, bad and ugly of the Extra Points business. We’re growing, our future is bright, but we need to be built less around ME. All of the details, and a 15 percent off discount code (sale ends this evening!) are here.

We want to finish the year strong, and we have some original reporting, special projects and plenty of FOIAing in the hopper the rest of the month. You can read everything we write by making sure you’ve upgraded to a premium subscription. These subscriptions pay our bills, from FOIA fees to bowl game sponsorships to travel and more.

And hey, as a parting gift, we finished a big update to Who’s That Football Team. We now have a daily Puzzle challenge. The game is totally free! Today’s clue comes from the FCS ranks, but who knows who will by our mystery program tomorrow….

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Rep Jeffries blasts SCORE Act, labeling it the ‘Lane Kiffin Protection Act’

Published

6 hours ago

December 5, 2025

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The proposed SCORE Act promises to provide the NCAA with a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the organization that regulates student athletics from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules, and it would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools.

Shortly before it was set to be brought to the floor on Wednesday, House leadership canceled a vote on the SCORE Act. The decision came amid concerns about whether Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., had secured the required votes for passage.

Following the delay, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., voiced his concerns about the chaotic events leading up to what ultimately became a failed effort to move the bill forward.

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Hakeem Jeffries speaks at a press conference

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“The question that a lot of people are asking this week related to the SCORE Act legislation is who exactly directed Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise to bring this bill to the floor this week? Was it the big donors connected to LSU? That legislation would not have benefited college athletes. It would hurt college athletes, take away the antitrust exemption. It would preempt the ability of states to actually pass legislation that promotes the health, the safety and the well-being of their own college students.”

GOP REP RIPS BIG TEN COMMISH AFTER SCORE ACT VOTE GETS DELAYED

Jeffries continued: “It would take away legal rights to seek redress the organized labor unions across the country were strongly opposed because it undermined the ability of college athletes and undermined their freedom to negotiate, took away collective bargaining rights. And of course, the players’ associations across every sports league led by the NFL Players Association were opposed to it because they concluded, when evaluating the bill on the merits, that it would actually hurt college athletes, not help them.”

Jeffries then facetiously renamed the SCORE Act to the “Lane Kiffin Protection Act.”

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin speaks to the media during SEC Media Day at Omni Atlanta Hotel on July 14, 2025. (Jordan Godfree/Imagn Images)

“Why would Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise think it was a good idea to bring the Lane Kiffin Protection Act to the floor of the House of Representatives? Legislation that would do nothing to benefit college athletes and everything to benefit coaches like Lane Kiffin, who got out of town, abandoned his players in the middle of a playoff run to go get a $100 million contract from LSU, the home state of Mike Johnson and Steve Scalise.”

Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise and Hakeem Jeffries

(L-R) Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), participate in the first nail ceremony for the construction of the 2025 presidential inauguration platform on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building on Sept. 18, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“People are asking the question, why did you decide to bring this bill this week with all the other issues that the country is demanding that we focus on, led by the affordability crisis that they claim is a scam and a hoax, but that the American people know is very real.”

A narrow 210-209 procedural vote was enough to get the bill to the House.

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The SCORE Act calls on schools to share revenue, per terms of the House settlement, per terms of the House settlement to the tune of 22% “if such rules provide that such pool limit is AT LEAST 22 percent of the average annual college sports revenue of the 70 highest-earning schools.”

The bill would also prohibit schools from using student fees to fund NIL payments.

Proponents of the proposed legislation have argued the SCORE Act would introduce some stability to college sports amid a landscape that increasingly lacks adequate regulation. However, critics have pointed to the possibility of returning arguably too much power back to schools and the NCAA.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

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Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

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