NIL
The House v. NCAA settlement has implications we’re still figuring out
The world of college sports changed as we know it last Friday night, again. The House Settlement was finally approved by Judge Claudia Wilken and with it came several significant amendments to how college sports will operate. Under Steve Sarkisian and across nearly the entire Longhorn athletic department, Texas has shown its ability to adapt and improvise […]

The world of college sports changed as we know it last Friday night, again. The House Settlement was finally approved by Judge Claudia Wilken and with it came several significant amendments to how college sports will operate. Under Steve Sarkisian and across nearly the entire Longhorn athletic department, Texas has shown its ability to adapt and improvise in an ever-changing college sports landscape. As another monumental change arrives, Texas will strive to uphold their recruiting and developmental prowess.
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The Objectively Good:
As part of the settlement, the NCAA will be sending over $2.8 billion in back payments to athletes that played from 2016 to 2024 to compensate for lost NIL opportunities. The most significant part about these back payments is obviously that Tyrone Swoopes will finally be compensated for his 18-wheeler package senior season for the Longhorns.
The Money:
Under the newly approved settlement, schools can now directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million per year. For SEC schools, that pool drops to $18.5 million as the league now requires $2 million to go to Alston payments.
Most schools are expected to follow something similar to a model of 70-85% to football, 10-15% to men’s basketball, 5% to women’s basketball and 5% to all other sports. Texas has said it will go 75-15-5-5.
Players can still seek third-party NIL deals as a form of revenue, but all NIL deals over $600 will go through a Deloitte-run clearinghouse website called NIL GO. Players will go to the website and submit any NIL deals they land for approval. The purpose of the clearinghouse is to ensure fair market value and valid business purpose solely between the athlete and the third-party company. All of this is to attempt to limit unregulated pay-for-play through over-the-table NIL.
Schools do have the opportunity to opt-out of the settlement and operate as they did before. While they don’t have to comply with roster limits and other new policies outlined in the settlement, they cannot participate in revenue-sharing and still are under the new NIL oversight and must report all deals over $600.
Texas is opting in.
One of the key pieces about the revenue-sharing model is the advantage given to one-sport schools. Big East schools and schools such as Gonzaga can pour 75% of their funds into basketball, giving them a distinct advantage within the sport.
It should be very interesting to see how non-football schools use this to their advantage, though they may not be able to offer the as much in total cash considering their media rights deals look very different than the ones Power Four conferences have.
Impact on College Football
While new NIL oversight may help curtail the Wild West era of NIL spending, the new revenue-sharing model still allows for dominance at the top. However, although the resource advantage gap may have diminished, the new model will strain most schools financially.
Finding NIL money from, let’s face it, fans to pay players is significantly easier than using school generated revenue. Schools are now scrambling to find ways to generate extra cash in order to pay up to that $20.5 million dollar cap. Expect to see a lot more schools implementing a “talent tax” as they have in Knoxville for the Tennessee Volunteers, or increase ticket prices as the Longhorns plan to do. If schools such as Tennessee and Texas need to do this, one can only imagine the challenges smaller schools are facing. We’ve already seen a few Division I schools make the move to D-III after realizing they wouldn’t be able to compete.
Texas is expected to see a $30 million increase in expenses because of House. $20.5 million is for the revenue-sharing salary cap, and an estimated $9.5 million will be due for the additional scholarships. As part of the settlement, scholarship limits have been replaced by roster limits.
Far From Flawless:
While the settlement is a great first step in fixing many of the grievances plaguing college sports, it also brings along its own new issues. While replacing scholarship limits with roster limits allows more flexible spending for schools, it takes away spots from many athletes. This was a big point of contention as Judge Wilken required an amendment that would protect current walk-ons before she approved the settlement.
Any athlete who was cut or had their offer pulled as a result of the new roster limits will now be labeled as a “Designated Student Athlete.” All DSA’s will not count toward the roster at their original school where they lost their spot, or if they transfer to a different school. While this does protect active and prospective athletes with current offers, the effects will be seen in a few years.
In 2024, Texas’s football roster consisted of 119 athletes, 14 over the NCAA limit. In addition, the SEC mandated a scholarship limit of 85 going forward, meaning there is room for 20 walk-ons in the Longhorn football program.
We may start to see the death of the walk-on in the House era. Nebraska had 180 players on their roster last year and now needs to cut that down by 75. With only 105 spots, coaches will severely limit walk-on spots if not cut them all together depending on what their league allows. The first place coaches look to replace talent after high school recruiting is the transfer portal. With an influx of talent in the portal and fewer walk-on spots, schools that champion the walk-on process might cease to place a similar emphasis on non-scholarship players.
For Texas, 119 to 105 isn’t a massive cut, especially compared to schools like A&M who had 143. It’s still a change Texas will have to deal with.
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Many issues that surrounded the implementation of the new settlement were outside the domain of Judge Wilken. She only needed to find the deal to be fair, reasonable and adequate to the settlement classes and find that it adequately addressed the federal antitrust issues raised in the three cases that originally triggered the settlement.
The settlement is extremely vulnerable to future lawsuits concerning Title IX, employment and labor claims, state NIL policies and more. In fact, a Title IX related suit has already been filed.
Now that players are directly paid by schools it opens up the discussion to their employment status. Can the players form a union? Negotiate a CBA? Does Title IX apply to NIL payments? All of these questions still have yet to be answered as schools will still have to navigate the college sports landscape under an uncertain future.
NIL
Trump set to sign executive order on national standards for college sports NIL
President Trump intends to sign an executive order in the coming days establishing national standards for the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness program, which has reaped millions of dollars in revenue for top college athletes, according to multiple people familiar with his plans. College athletes can now make millions before ever going pro thanks to […]

President Trump intends to sign an executive order in the coming days establishing national standards for the NCAA’s Name, Image and Likeness program, which has reaped millions of dollars in revenue for top college athletes, according to multiple people familiar with his plans.
College athletes can now make millions before ever going pro thanks to a set of NCAA rules enacted in 2021 that relaxed previous restrictions on being compensated for playing or accepting endorsement deals. Student athletes can now profit from merely showing up to play, or from jersey sales, autographs or serving as spokespeople for companies ranging from global brands to car dealerships near campus.
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Mr. Trump is engaging on an issue that has quickly reshaped and, in many ways, roiled college athletics after a House subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a bill along party lines that would establish national standards for sponsorships. The legislation, called the “SCORE Act,” would supersede a patchwork of state laws regulating Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL.
While the bill has bipartisan support, there is also bipartisan concern it would give too much power to the NCAA and do little to protect the interests of college athletes.
The NCAA’s decision in 2021 to let athletes earn money from NIL deals followed years of political and legal pressure on the collegiate sports giant. For decades, the NCAA imposed steep limits on compensation for student athletes, which it argued were necessary to insulate college athletics from commercial pressures. But opponents — including many college athletes — had long argued the rules unfairly cut them out of the millions in revenue that sports like football and basketball can bring in for universities.
Last month, in a massive shakeup, a federal judge signed off on a legal settlement in which the NCAA agreed to let schools pay student athletes directly.
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Trump has regularly engaged with professional and college sports of all sorts since and even before retaking office. Whether attending the storied Army-Navy football game last December or stealing the spotlight at last Sunday’s Club World Cup championship, the future of sports is a frequent presidential concern.
The White House didn’t immediately return requests for comment late Tuesday.
Trump pushes senators to make $9.4 trillion in spending cuts
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass says National Guard deployment in city was “a misuse” of soldiers
Mike Johnson breaks from Trump, calls on DOJ to release Epstein files
NIL
Wednesday Headlines
Good morning, BBN, College basketball has certainly changed since Doron Lamb won his championship in 2012 with the Kentucky Wildcats. The title wouldn’t have happened without Lamb, who poured in a game-high 22 points against Kansas, finishing the tournament with six straight double-digit outings and two 20-point games. Over 78 games in Lexington, Lamb averaged […]


Good morning, BBN,
College basketball has certainly changed since Doron Lamb won his championship in 2012 with the Kentucky Wildcats.
The title wouldn’t have happened without Lamb, who poured in a game-high 22 points against Kansas, finishing the tournament with six straight double-digit outings and two 20-point games.
Over 78 games in Lexington, Lamb averaged 12.3 and 13.7 points his first two years, shooting an impressive 49/48/81.
A very key piece throughout his time here, and according to him, it could have been longer if NIL were a thing back then.
“I would’ve stayed… after one championship, I would have stayed because I would have gotten a big bag.”
He certainly would have, and who knows, maybe he could’ve gotten the 2013-2014 team over the hump against UConn in that Championship game.
But alas, we will never know. Still, fun to think about!
Tweet of the Day:
These are awesome!
Headlines:
Josh Kattus Named Nominee for Allstate AFCA Good Works Team – UK Athletics
Love to see it!
Kentucky’s Ethan Walker Selected in 2025 MLB Draft – UK Athletics
Good luck, Ethan!
An answer we have come to expect from a Manning.
Sources: Jets, CB Sauce Gardner reach 4-year, $120.4M extension – ESPN
The CB market has skyrocketted.
‘What’s the point?’: Scottie Scheffler gets introspective ahead of The Open – NBC Sports
A really thought-provoking five from Scheffler.
So much talent in the SEC.
Sources: Chiefs, guard Trey Smith agree to 4-year, $94M deal – ESPN
Big deal for Patrick Mahomes’ health.
The Jazz could be a sneaky successful team this year.
Excited for this.
Commanders’ Terry McLaurin frustrated by lack of contract talks – ESPN
Pretty surprising the Commanders haven’t locked up their WR1 yet.
NIL
HBCU football coaches get real about transfer portal
MACON, GA — The SIAC, a Division II HBCU football conference, is feeling the ripple effects of the NCAA transfer portal, NIL, and House settlement decisions. During the league’s annual football media day, it seemed like everyone was talking about it. As Commissioner Dr. Anthony Holloman noted, the realities of modern college football have officially […]

MACON, GA — The SIAC, a Division II HBCU football conference, is feeling the ripple effects of the NCAA transfer portal, NIL, and House settlement decisions. During the league’s annual football media day, it seemed like everyone was talking about it.
As Commissioner Dr. Anthony Holloman noted, the realities of modern college football have officially reached the SIAC’s front door.
“The House Settlement. The transfer portal. NIL payments. And you might say, what does that have to do with Division Two?” Holloman asked. “The reality of it is a trickle down effect. We’re not immune. We lost players to Division I programs like Purdue University, Duke University, North Carolina A&T, Alabama A&M just to name a few.”
Now more than ever, roster management is one of the most critical responsibilities for SIAC coaches.
A New Era at Miles College
That kind of talent loss is something Miles College head coach Chris Goode knows all too well. After taking over the defending SIAC champions this offseason, he inherited a roster nearly unrecognizable from the one that won the title. Many players followed former head coach Sam Shade to Alabama A&M, while others transferred elsewhere.
“It’s a brand new team,” Goode said. “We had a lot of guys that were seniors that left, got a lot of guys that went in the transfer portal. But one of the things I always tell the players—I’m not going to complain about it—because the thing is, we still got to go on the field and play to compete.”
Goode is relying on a veteran coaching staff with championship experience. But even with that support, managing constant roster turnover has become the new normal.
Tuskegee Faces Rebuild Year After Year
Tuskegee head coach Aaron James echoed that sentiment, saying rebuilding a team now feels like starting from scratch each season.
“It’s a different team every year,” James said. “Because like I said, the transfer portal going on, you not able to rebuild—you actually build your team. It’s a rebuilding roster every year.”
Even with Tuskegee’s rich football tradition, James said that doesn’t stop players from seeking bigger stages.
“Every year, they’re looking for that ladder,” he said. “Other schools, they’re looking at us like we the JuCo of the leagues now. If we have an All-American, all-conference guy, those guys are going to be going up.”
Roster Management Becomes Year-Round Priority
The challenge of roster management at an HBCU isn’t just about replacing players. It also requires building relationships and recruiting current team members to stay.
Allen University head coach Cedric Pearl put it plainly:
“The number one thing in today’s game is to recruit your own roster. Roster management is important.”
The veteran HBCU coach stressed the importance of maintaining strong internal relationships.
“Now it’s kind of a dual recruiting relationship where you have to continue to constantly recruit those guys on the inside,” Pearl said. “Even though we’re coaching them every day, staying engaged with them.”
But Pearl also acknowledged that some transfers are about more than football.
“We understand the power of the dollar,” he said. “Power of the dollar, for a lot of young men, changes lives, changes family situations.”
“Anybody that gives an opportunity to go to another university and better themselves and make a little money at the same time—we’re all for that,” he added. “That’s just today’s game and where it’s going. So you either get on board, or you get ran over.”
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NIL
Georgia Media Days News
Georgia football took center stage at the 2025 SEC Media Days on Tuesday. Kirby Smart and the three Bulldogs also in attendance answered a lot of important questions at the event that only added to the hype heading into the 2025 season. So let’s jump right in and discuss the three biggest stories from Media […]


Georgia football took center stage at the 2025 SEC Media Days on Tuesday. Kirby Smart and the three Bulldogs also in attendance answered a lot of important questions at the event that only added to the hype heading into the 2025 season.
So let’s jump right in and discuss the three biggest stories from Media Days on Tuesday.
Kirby Smart preaches relationships over NIL transactions
Considering how much NIL has taken over college football, Smart was obviously asked about how he and Georgia handle the NIL space in recruiting. Smart’s response to this question unsurprisingly went viral in the college football world.
Smart said that Georgia “sells relationships over transactions” meaning that they look for players who don’t care about how much NIL money they make. Obviously being competitive with their NIL offers is still important, but Smart and Georgia are not looking for the players whose main focus is making as much money as possible.
Kirby Smart provides 7 injury updates
One of the most exciting updates for Georgia fans from Media Days came in the form of seven injury updates. Five of the updates shared on Tuesday were great news as Daylen Everette, Christen Miller, Monroe Freeling, Jaden Reddell and Quintaivus Johnson are all back to full health after suffering injuries during the spring.
Unfortunately there were two injury updates that were not as good as punter Brett Thorson has not recovered yet from tearing his ACL in the SEC Championshp game. He is expected to make his return sometime next season, but he likely will not be back in time for week one.
Last but not least there is corner Ondre Evans who also tore his ACL during the spring. Evans has a lot longer to go in his recovery than Thorson, so much so that Smart didn’t even share a timeline for his return on Tuesday.
Georgia’s QB competition isn’t over yet
When Gunner Stockton was announced as one of Georgia’s three players attending Media Days, everyone took that as confirmation that Stockton will be UGA’s starting quarterback this fall. Smart however confirmed on Tuesday that this is not the case. In fact, he came right out and said that Stockton and redshirt freshman Ryan Puglisi are still battling every single day.
On top of that, Stockton also shared that Smart has not told him yet that he has won the starting job. So it appears Georgia fans are going to have to wait even longer to find out who Georgia’s quarterback will be this fall.
NIL
Why Amani Hansberry is Virginia Tech’s most important team transfer for 2025-26
Three years have now passed with three straight finishes outside of the NCAA Tournament for Virginia Tech. The Hokies are coming off their worst season since head coach Mike Young took over in 2019. This team was pretty rough during a really down season for the ACC, though there’s hope that Young can get them […]

Three years have now passed with three straight finishes outside of the NCAA Tournament for Virginia Tech. The Hokies are coming off their worst season since head coach Mike Young took over in 2019. This team was pretty rough during a really down season for the ACC, though there’s hope that Young can get them back to the Big Dance for the first time since 2022’s ACC Tournament title.
The first good news is the return of leading scorer Toibu Lawal, a rising senior forward from England who was the only double-digit scorer for the Hokies. Lawal was also the top rebounder and a major piece to build around this season, though there’s a lot of new faces around him. Underclassmen like Jaden Schutt and Tyler Johnson return for bigger roles, but the Hokies will miss starters like Mylyjael Poteat and Jaydon Young.
A slew of freshmen talent enters the fold, including a pair of 4-star frontcourt players, but we’re looking more closely at the transfer portal haul. Young and his staff lost half a dozen names into the mix but aren’t leaning as heavily on new veteran talent. Former UNLV guard Jailen Bedford is the backcourt’s newest veteran while Izaiah Pasha comes to town after success with Delaware, though the third and final name will attract more attention.
Amani Hansberry is a 6-8 forward from Baltimore who was a Top 75 prospect back in the Class of 2023. He began his collegiate career at Illinois but saw mostly backup minutes as a freshman before transferring to West Virginia. Hansberry established himself in a more significant role with the Mountaineers, averaging 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds last season, with decent efficiency especially on defense.
He wasn’t a notable prospect for no reason and the Hokies are hoping that he can take another big step forward now as an upperclassman. Hansberry pairs nicely with Lawal and could form one of the most viable frontcourt duos in the ACC. With the slew of new bodies in the backcourt, it’s even more important for Hansberry to take that measured step forward, becoming a reliable scorer, rebounder, and defender in the paint.
You could certainly argue that Bedford will be more important with all the moving pieces at guard, but Hansberry is the one new athlete who can elevate Virginia Tech back to where they want to be. Not many people are heading into this season and expecting the Hokies near the top of the league standings. Could Hansberry and the rest of this new talent surprise folks around the country? If so, they’ll need him playing like a Top 75 athlete.
NIL
“I was able to take do some stuff for my mother and grandmother” – Charles Barkley defends taking under-the-table cash in college
“I was able to take do some stuff for my mother and grandmother” – Charles Barkley defends taking under-the-table cash in college originally appeared on Basketball Network. Charles Barkley never cared much for the rules — especially when those rules left college athletes broke while the NCAA cashed in. Advertisement Before NIL deals were legal, […]

“I was able to take do some stuff for my mother and grandmother” – Charles Barkley defends taking under-the-table cash in college originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Charles Barkley never cared much for the rules — especially when those rules left college athletes broke while the NCAA cashed in.
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Before NIL deals were legal, Barkley took $20,000 from an agent while at Auburn. He knew it broke the rules. He just didn’t care. For Barkley, it wasn’t about getting rich — it was about survival and helping his family while waiting for his NBA career to start.
“I think the most I took was like $20,000, I’m not talking about a million dollars or $100,000. $20,000 is a lot though when you have nothing I know and that made me stay in school another year $20,000 that’s not a lot of money but I was able to take do some stuff for my mother and grandmother and I had some spending money okay I’m cool I don’t have to go into the real world’,” Barkley emphasized.
Barkley thinks players didn’t receive any financial stability while the NCAA made billions off them. Hence, the agents offering them money to live their daily life in exchange for future representation seems reasonable.
Barkley vs the 2017-2018 Louisville scandal
Chuck took money from agents while at Auburn, but it was a loan that he repaid in full once he signed his NBA contract. He openly said that he sees no problem with his actions because they were necessary for him at the time.
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“I paid the agents back,” Barkley stated.
While he received money, he also claimed many players in the 1980s were getting money from agents to stay in school rather than enter the NBA Draft, although he never mentioned any particular names.
While Barkley’s situation seems appropriate, college basketball has different ways to bend the former amateurism rules. The main scandal of the 2017/2018 season was revealed when wiretaps uncovered millions in illegal payments from brands like Adidas to recruit players to play for a college.
At the time, Louisville was under Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino. He allegedly bribed highly sought-after recruit Brian Bowen and his family with $100,000 to attend the school through sponsorships with Adidas, the school’s main gear sponsor. Despite claiming he had no involvement, Pitino was fired, damaging his public image.
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Related: Michael Beasley shares the gangster way Pat Riley welcomed him to Miami: “Pulled up in a ’47 Mercury, matte black”
NIL: Good or Bad
NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) became available in July 2021, allowing college athletes to profit from their personal brands. Since then, players across all collegiate sports have made millions of dollars.
Barkley is all for paying the players, but the recent NIL deals have been getting out of hand.
“I think we have to have a talk about college basketball. I don’t think the model of the NIL is sustainable. Listen, I want all these kids to get whatever they can get. But asking colleges to come up with $20, $30 million a year – especially some of the smaller schools – I don’t think that’s a sustainable model,” Charles expressed his opinion during a college football broadcast of his alma mater.
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While the new NIL deals give every college $20-30 million to pay their athletes directly, Barkley thinks the long-term effect will not last.
The difference between Barkley receiving a loan from an agent to live comfortably while staying in school for another year and an athlete like Cooper Flagg earning $6 million in NIL deals is striking.
The NCAA generates billions of dollars from these athletes, and they certainly deserve a fair share of the revenue. However, Sir Charles maintains that college sports should remain amateur and that every athlete should be compensated fairly.
Related: “I hope they don’t screw with our show” – Charles Barkley reveals the only thing he is worried about when Inside the NBA moves to ESPN
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 15, 2025, where it first appeared.
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