The complicated, frustrating and often murky world of NIL (name, image and likeness) has touched every corner of college sports. From college football and basketball to gymnastics and softball, the landscape of college athletics drastically changed four years ago when the NCAA changed rules to allow student athletes to profit from NIL.

Names like Shedeur Sanders, Bronny James and Livvy Dunne topped the charts when it comes to NIL valuations in the past. In fact, we got a sense of how much money Cooper Flagg agreed to in NIL endorsements during his one year at Duke recently, as he’s expected to become the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. As the summer approaches, we’re one step closer to the 2025-26 academic year, and there’s a new crop of athletes topping the NIL charts.

Remember, NIL deals are not solely dependent on athletic performance on the field. Sanders, who had a reported $4.7 million valuation last year — the highest among college football players — was not a Heisman Trophy finalist and went on to be a fifth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns. Arch Manning, who had the second-highest reported NIL valuation heading into last year’s college football season at $3.8 million, had not started a college game before last season.

With that, here is a look at the top 25 college athletes with the highest NIL valuations heading into the 2025-26 academic year!

*NIL valuations are from On3.com, which calculates the optimized NIL opportunity for athletes relative to the overall NIL market and projects outcomes over the next 12 months. 

1. Texas QB Arch Manning ($6.8 million)

Manning instantly became one of the most-valued athletes in college sports the moment he stepped foot on campus in Austin, Texas in 2023, holding a $3.8 million NIL valuation at the time. Manning has reportedly inked deals or partnered with EA Sports, Red Bull, Uber and Vuori as he prepares for his first full season as Texas’ starting quarterback. While Manning is the highest-valued NIL athlete in college sports, he doesn’t take any money from Texas’ NIL collective, the Houston Chronicle previously reported. 

Beck initially declared for the 2025 NFL Draft this offseason before surprisingly transferring to Miami. It was rumored that Beck received $3 to $4 million from Miami’s NIL collective to make the move to South Florida, moving on from Georgia after he helped the Bulldogs win the SEC title in 2024. According to On3, Beck has inked 11 deals and partnerships over his college career, with Chipotle, Beats By Dre and Powerade headlining the notable brands.

Following a standout freshman season, Smith shot up the board as one of the most valuable players in college sports. He was recently unveiled as a co-cover star athlete for “College Football 26,” adding to the list of notable endorsement deals he has secured. He has reported deals with American Eagle, Lululemon, Red Bull and Nintendo, among others. Smith also agreed to a local car dealership deal — which appeared to gift him a new Mercedes — in May.

4. BYU F AJ Dybantsa ($4.1 million)

Before he even steps on the court in Provo, Utah, Dybantsa is already one of the highest-valued players in college sports with reported deals with Nike and Red Bull. It was reported at the time of his commitment that he secured a deal worth around $7 million, giving one of the top prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft a significant payday.

Nussmeier opted to forgo early entry into the 2025 NFL Draft, making him one of the top prospects in 2026. Set to enter his second season as LSU’s starter, Nussmeier has multiple reported NIL deals and partnerships, including Powerade and EA Sports, among others. 

Sellers was one of the SEC’s breakout stars in 2024, winning the conference’s Offensive Freshman of the Year Award. He has reportedly secured NIL deals with Collegiate Legends and Cheez-It, and another strong year could help him continue to climb this list.

Similar to Sellers, Lagway was also a breakout star in 2024. He went 6-1 in the seven starts he made as a true freshman, helping Florida turn its season around. He has reportedly earned an NIL deal with Nintendo since the end of the season, while Gatorade has featured him in a commercial, as he agreed to a deal with the iconic brand before his freshman year. Lagway certainly seems to be a candidate to be No. 1 on this list next year if Manning declares for the draft.

Klubnik, who FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt recently named as his top quarterback for the 2025 season, is entering his third year as Clemson’s starter. He led the Tigers to an ACC title last season and reportedly has existing NIL deals with Rhoback and ONIT, among others. 

Allar turned down early entry into the 2025 NFL Draft despite speculation he could be an early-round pick. According to On3, Allar hasn’t logged any new NIL deals since he helped Penn State reach the CFP last season. However, he reportedly has pre-existing deals with Bose and Frosted Flakes.

Leavitt only has a pair of reported NIL endorsement deals, agreeing to partnerships with Jones Ford Verde Valley and Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers, but he also agreed to a deal with Arizona State’s NIL collective in January, shutting down transfer rumors. 

11. Michigan QB Bryce Underwood ($3 million)

After dealing with struggles at quarterback during the 2024 season, Michigan made Underwood a reported offer through its NIL collective worth $10.5 million over four years to get him to flip his commitment from LSU to the Wolverines. Underwood, ranked as the top quarterback recruit in the Class of 2025, wound up flipping his commitment to remain in his home state of Michigan.

Toppin has the highest NIL valuation among returning college basketball players this upcoming year. It was reported that Toppin is expected to earn $4 million in NIL after forgoing entry into the 2025 NBA Draft. Toppin won Big 12 Player of the Year and was named a second-team All-American after scoring 18.2 points per game in the 2024-25 season.

Duke landed Mensah in the transfer portal after he had a strong first season as Tulane’s starting quarterback (2,723 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, six interceptions) in 2024. It was reported that Mensah earned an $8 million deal from Duke’s NIL collective to transfer to the school in December 2024.

Mateer is also among the list of the most valuable college athletes after transferring from Washington State to Oklahoma this offseason. Klatt recently ranked him as his third-best quarterback for the 2025 season after he threw for 3,139 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with 826 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.

The other co-cover star athlete of “College Football 26” is among the most valuable athletes in college sports for 2025-26. Williams emerged as one of the best receivers as a 17-year-old freshman in 2024, recording 865 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Williams also has a pretty diverse list of NIL endorsement deals as well, reportedly securing partnerships with Uber Eats, Hollister and Sally Hansen.

Hoover doesn’t have any listed NIL brand deals on On3 beyond the one he has with TCU’s NIL collective. However, after his strong 2024 season (3,949 yards, 27 touchdowns, 11 interceptions), he could’ve earned more this offseason. Tennessee offered Hoover roughly $1 million more in NIL money than what he’s currently receiving at TCU, which is at least seven figures, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported in April.

17. Ohio State S Caleb Downs ($2.4 million)

Ohio State has two of the highest-valued non-quarterbacks in college football entering the 2025 season. Downs, who is arguably the best defensive player in the nation (81 total tackles, two interceptions in 2024), has a few reported NIL brand deals, highlighted by partnerships with Panini, Beats by Dre and American Eagle. He also signed an NIL deal with Ohio State’s collective, The Foundation, when he transferred from Alabama following Nick Saban’s retirement in 2024.

Bailey doesn’t have any known NIL deals with brands, but he signed a new deal with NC State’s collective, One Pack, in December 2024 to remain in Raleigh, North Carolina. That deal helped ensure Bailey wouldn’t transfer after he scored 22 total touchdowns to go with 2,413 passing yards as a true freshman in 2024. 

Following a wild recruiting process that saw him commit to two schools before landing at Nebraska in 2024, Raiola has earned a few NIL deals with notable brands. He reportedly signed a deal with Panini right after he committed to Nebraska in December 2023, before signing a deal with Campus Ink early in his freshman season. He reportedly signed an endorsement deal with Adidas in April, following in the footsteps of his idol, Patrick Mahomes. He also has a deal with Nebraska’s NIL collective, 1890. 

Lendeborg announced he was transferring from UAB to Michigan in April, but he wasn’t fully committed to the Wolverines until he removed his name from the 2025 NBA Draft in May. The top-ranked player in the transfer portal this offseason by 247 Sports, Lendeborg received an NIL package believed to be in the neighborhood of $3 million to return to school, CBS Sports previously reported. Lendeborg was viewed as a potential first-round pick prior to his decision to remove his name from the 2025 NBA Draft, as he was named first-team All-AAC the past two seasons. 

Green earned a few endorsement deals with local companies during his time at Boise State before he transferred to Arkansas ahead of the 2024 season. After transferring, he reportedly signed a deal with the school’s NIL collective, Arkansas Edge. It’s unclear how much that deal is worth, but the collective helped Green land an endorsement deal with a local car dealership in 2024, which landed him a Ram 1500 truck. 

Similar to Lendeborg, Fland was one of the top players in the transfer portal this offseason but also declared for the 2025 NBA Draft. He removed his name from the draft in May, while simultaneously announcing his transfer from Arkansas to Florida. The defending champion’s NIL collective reportedly gave Fland a package worth over $2 million, according to CBS Sports. 

Dent, who won Mountain West Player of the Year at New Mexico this past season, reportedly received a $3 million NIL deal to transfer to UCLA in March, according to The Santa Fe New Mexican. He received $2 million of that deal up front, while he’ll earn the other $1 million during the 2025-26 season. 

Iameleava arguably became the face of the NIL debate this offseason. He transferred out of Tennessee after the program reportedly denied his request for a pay raise from its NIL collective, seeking $4 million annually. He wound up at UCLA, agreeing to an NIL deal rumored to be in the $1.5 million range, according to Front Office Sports. That’s actually a pay decrease from what he was getting at Tennessee, as he was set to earn $2.4 million from the Vols’ collective in 2025, per ESPN. Iamaleava was also one of 11 college football players to sign a deal with Beats by Dre ahead of the 2024 season. 

Arnold was among the handful of quarterback transfers who reportedly earned a multi-million-dollar payday this offseason. It has been rumored that Arnold received a deal worth at least $2 million to transfer from Oklahoma, which got a laugh out of former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron. Arnold finished the year with 1,421 passing yards, 12 passing touchdowns, three interceptions, 444 rushing yards and three rushing scores.

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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team heads to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for NCAA Super Regionals to take on No. 6 LSU. The best-of-three series gets started on Saturday, June 7, at 2 p.m. ET, followed by Sunday, June 8, at 6 p.m. ET. Game three will be on Monday, June 9, if necessary.
 
Game one will air on ESPN while game two will be on ESPN2 with Dave Neal and Ben McDonald on the call. It can also be heard on the Mountaineers Sports Network with Andrew Caridi and Jake Weghorst on all radio affiliates as well as the Varsity Network, WVU Gameday App, and WVUSports.com.  
 
The Mountaineers earned their spot in the Super Regionals by going 3-0 in the Clemson Regional this past weekend. West Virginia opened with a 4-3 win against Kentucky on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Armani Guzman. The Mountaineers followed that with a 9-6 win over Clemson, scoring four runs in the ninth inning. In the regional final, WVU scored six runs in the eighth inning to win 13-12 over the Wildcats.
 
Guzman was named the Regional MVP after going 8-for-12 with six RBI. Senior Brodie Kresser, junior Logan Sauve, and redshirt senior Griffin Kirn all joined him on the All-Tournament Team.

The Mountaineers enter the Super Regional with a 44-14 overall record and sat atop the Big 12 standings with a 19-9 mark, winning their second Big 12 title in three years and first outright championship.  It is the second Super Regional appearance in program history and first under first-year head coach Steve Sabins. It is the second consecutive Super Regional appearance after playing in Chapel Hill in 2024.

Suave and Kirn were both named to the All-Big 12 first team while senior outfielder Kyle West and graduate pitcher Jack Kartsonas earned spots on the second team. Gavin Kelly was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team while four others – sophomore Chase Meyer, senior Reese Bassinger, junior Sam White, and senior Jace Rinehart – all earned honorable mention status.

 

White leads the Mountaineers with a .352 batting average, West leads with10 home runs, and Rinehart has a team-high 51 RBI and 21 doubles. West is also hitting .347 with 15 doubles and 36 RBI.

 

On the mound, Kirn leads the team with 100 strikeouts in 95.0 innings to go along with a 5-2 record, a 3.13 ERA and one save which he picked up in the regional championship game against Kentucky. Kartsonas is 6-3 with a 2.94 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 64.1 innings. Bassinger has been the top reliever for WVU with a 7-1 record, 4.28 ERA, and 43 strikeouts in a team-high 29 appearances.

 

LSU enters the Super Regional with a 46-15 overall record after winning the Baton Rouge Regional last week, defeating Little Rock, Dallas Baptist, and Little Rock again. Unlike WVU, the Tigers dropped the first championship game against the Trojans before rallying for a win over Little Rock on Monday night.
 
The Tigers are the No. 6 overall seed and are led by head coach Jay Johnson in his fourth year. Johnson and the Bayou Bengals won the national title in 2023, the seventh in program history.
 
Kade Anderson and Athony Eyanson lead a pitching staff that holds a 3.73 ERA, seventh best in the nation. Anderson leads the team with 156 strikeouts in 96.0 innings while Eyanson has 135 strikeouts in 93.2 innings.
 
Ethan Frey leads the team with a .359 batting average while Jared Jones has 20 home runs and 69 RBI. Derek Curiel has been one of the top freshmen in the country with a .341 batting average, six home runs, 47 RBI, and a team-high 18 doubles.
 
The winner of this weekend’s series will advance to the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. The 78^th MCWS gets started on Friday, June 13.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
 

According to a report from ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, NiJaree Canady has signed another $1 million NIL deal with Texas Tech.

UCLA lost another pitcher on Friday. 2024 Softball America No. 1 recruit Addisen Fisher has entered the transfer portal after her freshman year with the Bruins. Fisher, a native of Bend, Ore., threw 113.2 this season. She had a 16-2 record with a save and 2.59 ERA.

According to our friends at 64Analytics, she had a 3.66 xFIP (A version of FIP that normalizes the home run component based on a league-average home run-to-fly ball rate), which was a tad better than All-Americans Sydney Berzon and Robyn Herron.

Fisher was used in relief quite often; half of her appearances came from the bullpen. In her 16 starts, she had six complete games, with three coming in Big Ten play.

The Bruins’ once deep pitching staff has dissolved quickly after losing rising junior pitcher Kaitlyn Terry to the portal earlier in the week.

For more transfer portal news, stay up to date with the Softball America transfer wire and the Dugout, our discussion board for members.

More from Softball America:
2027 Pitcher Recruiting Rankings
2027 Catcher Recruiting Rankings
2027 Middle Infield Rankings

The Duke football program will be one of the most intriguing to follow in college football next season, given the massive investment it made in quarterback Darian Mensah, mixed with the plethora of key defensive returners from a Blue Devil defense that was one of the best in the nation in 2024.

In fact, some ACC coaches think Manny Diaz and Duke are the real deal and could be serious contenders in the ACC.

Athlon Sports asked coaches around the ACC to speak anonymously on their opponents, and one anonymous coach thinks the Blue Devils will be legit contenders in 2025.

““They’re all-in on NIL, and [QB Darian] Mensah was a big investment for them. If he’s as effective as he was at Tulane, they could be a title contender because that defense is absolutely legit. They’re returning almost everyone, and last year was some of Manny Diaz’s best work of his career.”

Duke inked a two-year, $8 million NIL deal with Mensah, one of the biggest NIL contracts in college football history. It’s a bit of a gamble on the rising redshirt sophomore, but Mensah was spectacular in his first season as a starter at Tulane in 2024.

Mensah threw for 2,723 yards to go along with 22 touchdowns to six interceptions for the Green Wave last season en route to leading Tulane to an AAC Championship game berth.

And for Diaz, he took no time taking the Blue Devils to new heights following the departure of Mike Elko. Duke won nine games last season for just the third time since joining the ACC in 1953, and with the amount of money boosters are putting into next season’s roster, there’s no doubt they have faith Diaz can bring the program back to places it hasn’t been in decades.

Another coach compared Duke and North Carolina side by side, saying that even though UNC got most of the offseason buzz between the two programs after signing Bill Belichick, Duke could be the better team.

“North Carolina got all the talk, but this is going to be a fascinating program to watch down the road.”

The Blue Devils are looking for their first ACC Championship since 1989 in year two under Diaz, and some coaches around the conference think they can get there.