The NCAA’s landmark settlement in the House case included a pool of roughly $2.8 billion to be set aside for former college athletes who weren’t allowed to be compensated for their name, image and likeness.

The backpay is only for athletes who played between 2016 and 2024, dating back to a strong stretch for the Paul Chryst era of the Wisconsin Badgers.

Those players just missed out on the opportunity to be compensated, but now they can file claims for backpay to at least try and recoup a fraction of what they might have been worth at the time.

These former Badgers football players stand out as the most deserving of retroactive pay from the settlement.

RB Jonathan Taylor

Tom Izzo said that he was “really impressed” by new Michigan State athletic director J Batt during his introductory press conference. Batt addressed a number of topics during his introductory press conference last facing the Spartans brand.

That included NIL, which Tom Izzo said is going to be the most important issue for the Spartans AD to tackle. Specifically, when it comes fundraising.

“It just has to be,” Izzo said following Batt’s introduction. “You can look at it any way you want to look at it, but it is what’s critical for all of us. Then, fundraising in general that $20 million that we’re going to spend — that wasn’t just given to us. Every athletic department is going to be subject to raise money to help that, the facilities and how much we give to each program. So I think fundraising is a major part, yet as a business man you have to understand the athletics to that.”

Izzo hasn’t been shy about voicing his displeasures about certain aspects of NIL in the past, as well as the NCAA transfer portal. Now that the historic House Settlement has been approved, it further shifts how revenue distribution and paying athletes in general will be handled.

This will see a $20.5 million revenue sharing cap go into effect beginning on July 1. Power Four football programs will eat up roughly $15 million of that, with other top programs in other sports adding to the overall budget with “over-the-cap” deals from third parties.

Izzo, as well as Batt, expect Michigan State to be at the forefront of these efforts as a staple in the Big Ten Conference. However, the fundraising efforts will be the greatest challenge to Batt as he gets comfortable in his new position, according to Izzo.

“We are gonna be extremely successful and competitive in that space,” Batt said during his first meeting with the media as AD. “We’re gonna be intentional about providing all of our coaches the resources to be successful at a championship level. I’ll tell you, as we head into the revenue share (era), the post-House settlement, hopefully, what that requires will change, and how we approach that space will change.

“But I can tell you we’ll have a great plan. We’ll be united in that plan, we’ll be aligned in that plan from President Guskiewicz to our coaches to our board as we head into that era.”

Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady has signed her second seven-figure name NIL deal, securing her place in Lubbock for the future. The agreement was confirmed Friday by ESPN via her manager, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management.

The new NIL arrangement comes through the Matador Club, Texas Tech’s donor-driven collective, and was finalized just hours before Canady was set to take the mound in Game 3 of the Women’s College World Series championship series against Texas.

The Red Raiders lost the decisive Game 3 to Texas 10-4 on Friday night.

Canady transferred from Stanford following the 2023 season is coming off her third consecutive WCWS appearance. She previously signed a landmark deal with Texas Tech in 2024 that included $1 million in direct payments and $50K for living expenses. This year’s agreement also surpasses the million-dollar mark, though specific terms have not been disclosed.

“She’s box office,” Shelby told ESPN. “This program has taken care of her. Tonight she’s playing for a national championship and making history.”

Canady’s presence on the mound has been key for the Red Raiders. She led the nation with 34 wins and a 0.97 ERA during the regular season, and has thrown every pitch for Texas Tech in the WCWS. In the series, she delivered a gutsy six-inning performance in Game 1’s 2-1 loss and followed it with a complete-game, seven-inning outing in Thursday’s 4-3 Game 2 win.

The Topeka, Kansas, native earned the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award in 2024 and is a multiple-time All-American. A national championship would be a fitting capstone to her storied collegiate career.

With her latest NIL deal, Canady becomes one of the highest-paid athletes in college softball history.