College sports have changed a lot in the last few years. Now, athletes can earn money from their NIL. Former Georgia Bulldogs basketball player Kenny Gaines recently talked about how this new system is not as simple as it seems.

While some players make a lot of money, others face tough choices and new challenges. Understanding these changes helps us see how college sports are different today and why it matters for players, coaches, and fans.

Ex-Georgia Hooper Kenny Gaines Shares Experiences With NIL Changes

Kenny Gaines, who played for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2012-2016, spoke about the big changes in college sports on the “Dawg Talk” podcast. He was joined by former teammates Marcus Thornton, J Mac, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and NBA player Jabari Smith Jr.

They talked about how college athletes now must think about making money and building their personal brand, not just playing basketball. Gaines said a coach once told him that today’s NIL world is much different from what it was just a few years ago.

Smith, who started college right when NIL rules changed, said, “You missed the NIL era. Mine was the first year of it, but it wasn’t nowhere [sic] near like this.” Smith explained that when he played, he had a car deal, but the deals now are much bigger and more common.

Smith also pointed out that players need to be good if they want to make money. “If you’re not good, you’re not making no [sic] money,” he said. This means that how well you play and how popular you are both matter a lot now.

Thornton added that players today expect to get six-figure deals even before they prove themselves. “Three hundred thousand is like low. That’s what they asking for… and that’s the water boy.”

This shows how much money some college athletes can get now, even if they are not the top stars. According to ESPN, some top college basketball teams spend over $10 million on NIL deals for their players. Some athletes have earned more than $1 million in a single year, especially at big schools.

During the podcast, the group talked about how some coaches struggle to get their players to promote products. One assistant coach told Gaines she could not get her players to do ads because “they’re getting 300 out the gate.” Gaines was surprised by this, saying, “I was like, say listen, I won’t be here.”

Thornton also said, “An eight-point per game player is getting almost a million dollars in college basketball right now.” While not every player earns that much, it is true that NIL deals have grown quickly, and some players who are not superstars can still get big paydays.

RELATED: How EA Sports College Football 2025 Paved the Way for a New College Basketball Game

For Gaines, these changes were hard to believe. He felt that the loyalty and hard work that used to be important in college basketball have been replaced by players looking for the best money.

“Dude, you my age… but still went to the transfer portal. Who got the bag? That’s what it is,” he said. Many players now choose schools that offer the most money, not just the best fit for them.

Since 2021, when the NCAA allowed NIL deals, the number of players transferring to new schools has gone up a lot. In 2025, more than 2,000 men’s college basketball players entered the transfer portal, which is about 35 percent of all Division I players. Many of them are looking for better deals and more chances to play.

The NIL policy was meant to help student-athletes, but it has also made college sports more competitive and focused on money. For former players like Gaines, the game looks very different now. Players, coaches, and fans all have to adjust to this new world, where talent, popularity, and business are all connected.

Shoe allegiances can run almost as deep as a favorite college football program. When you can marry the two together, perhaps in charge of marketing may have something special.

That appears to be the case with Ohio State star receiver Jeremiah Smith and Adidas, because according to a social media post on Tuesday, it appears as though Smith has signed an NIL deal with the popular sports apparel company based in Germany. And if you are like many of us, the fact that it’s not with Nike (the apparel company that sponsors Ohio State) might be a little suprising.

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But hey, this is what NIL is for, right? Athletes are able to enter their own partnerships with companies to take advantage of their star power, and kudos to Adidas for recognizing what Smith can be for them as a public figure and spokesperson. Of course, we don’t know the terms of the deal and probably never will, but if you are a Smith and Ohio State fan, now you have conflicting priorities.

One has to wonder what kind of cleats Smith will be wearing when he runs out of the tunnel on Aug. 30. Somewhere, there has to be contract language that spells out how this whole thing is going to work. And maybe, just maybe, down the line we’ll get to see some Jeremiah Smith Adidas cleats we can all get our hands on.

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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith signs surprising NIL shoe deal

ORLANDO, Fla. — A new era of college athletics has begun with the approval of the House settlement on June 6. Starting on July 1, institutions such as Florida, Florida State and UCF began the process of offering revenue sharing to their athletes. Here are some of the top questions about that process:

How will schools pay for it?

Any school that aims to remain competitive in football will fully commit to the settlement terms. But a $20.5 million obligation to athletes, both recurring and expected to increase, will strain even the richest athletic programs.

To meet any new expense requires a revenue increase, expense reduction or both. In 2026, SEC schools will receive more TV money from ESPN, which currently pays more than $800 million to televise the league’s sporting events. The SEC reportedly could make another $50-$80 million if it were to go from eight to nine conference games. Expanding the College Football Playoff from 12 to 16 games would produce another financial windfall.

Other schools, such as UCF, have also been fundraising, asking fans or boosters to donate to the Competitive Success Fund to help meet the goal of $20.5 million for its revenue pool.

On a smaller scale, athletic departments are reducing expenses on the margins. UF’s University Athletic Association required every department and sports program to cut its budget by 5%, saving a few million in the process.

Prices for tickets and other costs at events are sure coast to coast to rise, too. Student fees for athletics also could. Tennessee plans to charge football ticket holders a “talent fee” to go to athletes. Layoffs could sadly become part of the equation.

Who’ll get paid, and who’ll get stiffed?

SEC schools will commit $2.5 million to new scholarships, leaving $18 million in revenue sharing with athletes. Some schools are reluctant to share plans, but Georgia publicly offered a framework: 75% for football ($13.5 million); 15% for men’s basketball ($2.7 million); 5% for women’s basketball ($900,000) and the remaining 5% for other programs.

While the amount for football should be fairly standard, it could get tricky elsewhere. South Carolina finished last in the SEC in men’s basketball, but won two of the past four women’s titles (2022, 2024) and lost to UConn in the 2025 title game. LSU won the 2023 women’s title, while the men lost in the first round of the NIT. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley and LSU’s Kim Mulkey should command, and could demand a bigger piece of the pie.

Examples are sure to abound at schools with traditions of success across the board. Lawsuits are likely to follow. With rev share disproportionately smaller for female athletes, some could claim violations of Title IX law instituted in 1972 to ensure equal opportunity at educational institutions. Conversely, football could argue it generates most of the revenue.

At UF, athletic director Scott Stricklin said athletes at each of the school’s 21 sports programs will benefit financially from either revenue sharing, increased scholarship money or Alston payments, based on a federal ruling awarding money to athletes to meet academic expenses.

How will NIL collectives operate?

The launch of name, image and likeness legislation spawned organizations to facilitate sponsorships or fund-raise to pay athletes. Pay-for-play quickly became the modus operandi. The fact that collectives operated independently of the athletic departments allowed tens of millions to flow to top athletes without oversight or accountability.

Even the Jaden Rashada fiasco at UF, involving a $13.8 million promise to a high school quarterback, did not stem the flow of cash, curtail aggressive dealmaking or stop athletes and their camps from going to the highest bidder.

Now that NIL payments will be vetted, collectives will have to market athletes, help big-money donors get creative and generate many three- and four-figure deals, not focus on five-, six- and seven-figure ones. In short, collectives will be asked to do what was intended, but ultimately ignored due to a lack of rules amid a high-stakes competition to attract talent.

Who comprises the College Sports Commission?

The College Sports Commission was created to oversee the implementation of the House settlement. Its membership consists of representatives from the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and Pac-12. The CEO of the organization is Bryan Seeley, a former Major League Baseball executive.

The CSC answers to a board of directors, which consists of conference commissioners from the Power 4 leagues: ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.

“There will be a separate governing body, the College Sports Commission, which will oversee this,” said UCF athletics director Terry Mohajir. “It’s going to have its own CEO that will basically oversee the enforcement, and there’ll be a chief investigator officer. We need a level playing field.”

How would buyout clauses work in revenue-sharing?

Buyout clauses are a standard feature in many NIL deals, as companies and collectives aim to address potential complications that may arise when an athlete decides to transfer to another team or organization. This same idea will also be integrated into revenue-sharing agreements. If an athlete transfers, they could risk losing a portion of their earnings. The new school they move to would then be responsible for covering the buyout amount, which would also count against their revenue-sharing cap.

“That’s going to be messy the first year or two as everybody figures out the math behind all of this,” said Kristi Dosh, author of “The Athlete’s NIL Playbook.” “You can’t give all your revenue sharing pool to your athletes who are coming in the fall because if you do that, you’re not going to have any money left over for the [transfer] portal. Your money doesn’t replenish until July 1, 2026. From a budgeting perspective, everybody’s just making educated guesses.”

According to an FAQ released during the approval of the House settlement, if an athlete receives $100,000 from a school (A) and receives $50,000 at the beginning of the academic year, but chooses to transfer to school (B), that institution would have to reimburse school (A) $50,000. It would be deducted from school B’s revenue-share pool.

© 2025 The Sentinel (Carlisle, Pa.). Visit www.cumberlink.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Hugh Freeze Makes Concerning Admission on Auburn’s NIL Budget originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

It has not been a good week to be an Auburn Tigers fan.

On Wednesday, five-star recruits Earnest Rankins and Cederian Morgan committed to the Florida State Seminoles and the Alabama Crimson Tide, respectively, with each prospect having Auburn on their shortlist heading into the week.

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Auburn is not only struggling to land commitments, but they are also failing to keep those who had previously pledged their allegiance to The Plains. With 2026 four-stars Denarius Gray and Shadarius Toodle denouncing their commitments from Auburn in the past week, the Tigers are now ranked 89th regarding the 2026 recruiting class, per 247Sports.

Auburn houses just six hard commits, highlighted by four-star edge rusher Hezekiah Harris and four-star quarterback and former Penn State Nittany Lions commit Peyton Falzone.

For head coach Hugh Freeze, who finds himself in the crosshairs of fans after the program’s latest setbacks, he believes the NIL era is to blame. According to Justin Hokanson of On3, Freeze says Auburn is “really low” on NIL funds compared to other top programs that are in play for their recruits.

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Freeze also emphasized that his staff continues to operate under the rules and guidelines presented by the NCAA and Congress, which he feels other teams may not be as law-abiding. Nevertheless, Freeze has a belief in the program’s direction, with a top-ten recruiting class in 2026 not out of the picture.

Auburn AD John Cohen hints that August 1 — the first day players can sign NIL deals — as a chance for the Tigers to flip recruits.

Related: Auburn Lands Former 5-Star Recruit Out of Transfer Portal

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.