The biggest star in college basketball last season was undoubtedly Duke Blue Devils’ freshman forward Cooper Flagg.

The highly-touted recruit was viewed by many as the best player in the nation before he ever stepped foot on the court in college.

Flagg lived up to the enormous hype, though, as he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four. This performance also netted him every major award in the nation, including the coveted Wooden Award, which is handed out to the best player in college hoops on an annual basis.

In the modern era of NIL, Flagg’s enormous star power naturally secured him some very lucrative endorsements, and one prominent analyst recently suggested that the true amount of these NIL deals was much higher than anyone could have guessed.

According to CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford, sports reporter Howard Bryant recently sat down with Bob Costas, and in this conversation, Crawford revealed the jaw-dropping NIL total that Flagg secured in his lone year at Duke.

“$28 million,” Howard said. “He had a $13 million deal with New Balance and then $15 million with Fanatics.”

The crowd in attendance was audibly shocked when Howard dropped the enormous figure, and for good reason.

$28 million is more than many All-Star-caliber NBA veterans currently make, so the thought of a college freshman raking in that much is pretty astonishing.

This figure also may be a case of something being too good to be true, as well.

According to Crawford, it’s likely that Howard was conflating the total amount of the deals that Flagg has signed with the amount they are slated to pay out per season.

“Here’s the thing,” Crawford writes, “Howard’s reported total is likely Flagg’s NIL contracts in totality and not an annual payment. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski previously reported Flagg’s New Balance agreement was ‘significant.’ These are often multiyear contracts between incoming rookies and sneaker companies.”

This seems far more plausible than Flagg getting paid $28 million for one year of college basketball.

After all, the New Balance deal he signed as an incoming college freshman was reportedly for several years, and the company knew full well that only one of those seasons would be at the college level.

While Howard’s reporting might have been a bit sensationalized, there’s no denying that Flagg has used his brand to maximum effect at the college level.

He secured generational paydays before ever stepping foot on an NBA court.

Now, the presumptive first overall draft pick will enter his professional career with a level of financial security that no other rookie has ever known.

More NIL News

MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. (KBTX) – The state of Texas’ new name, image and likeness (NIL) bill will go into immediate effect after it is signed by Gov. Greg Abbott, thanks to a two-thirds majority vote from the House of Representatives Thursday.

House Bill 126 required the one additional vote from the House after an floor amendment was added in the Senate barring anyone younger than 17 years old from entering into an NIL contract with a university or third-party entity. Had both chambers not reached a two-thirds majority vote, the legislation would have become law on Sept. 1, well beyond the expected approval of the House v. NCAA antitrust case settlement.

“The current law says we can’t do revenue sharing and so I would imagine that would be a significant disadvantage for our football programs, if everyone else in the country can do revenue sharing and we can’t,” A&M head coach Mike Elko said of the bill Tuesday at SEC Spring Meetings. “So, I think we’re going to need some help there.”

Texas was in need of new NIL legislation to comply with the settlement, which opens up revenue sharing opportunities between universities and their athletes for the use of their names, images and likenesses in broadcasts of games and other publicity outlets. Once the settlement is approved, athletic programs in the state can begin executing revenue sharing contracts with current and prospective athletes, a competitive requirement to hold serve with other states that will fall in line with the settlement order.

“Recruiting is in full force in the summertime and we want to make sure that Texas has every advantage of any other state,” Rep. Carl Tepper (R-District 84), the author of the bill, told KBTX.

The Texas legislature took the bill near the wire, with the legislative session ending on June 2. However, they should not have to worry much about future NIL legislation moving forward, as a clause in the new bill says any changes to NCAA rules or new court orders can supersede the state law. HB 126 is the third iteration of NIL legislation in the state, with the first put on the books in 2021.

“The bill has triggers that allows the NCAA to make subtle changes, which will subtly change our rules here in Texas, so we don’t have to revisit this every time they want to change the rule.”

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Texas A&M is set to retain Michael Earley as its head baseball coach, athletics director Trev Alberts announced Friday. The Aggies missed the NCAA Tournament one year after reaching the College World Series finals.

Earley took over this season after Jim Schlossnagle’s departure, and Texas A&M got a slew of key pieces back from the transfer portal to eventually come in ranked preseason No. 1. However, the Aggies struggled early in the year before going on a late surge to finish 30-26 overall and 11-19 in SEC play.

Once the season ended, questions swirled about Earley’s future in College Station. Alberts said he was thinking through a decision, but ultimately announced he is staying put as head coach.

“Earlier today I met with Coach Earley to discuss the state of our baseball program,” Alberts said in a statement. “I appreciate Mike’s work in taking a holistic view of what changes need to be made so that we have a baseball program that meets our high standards. Baseball success is critically important to Texas A&M. I am confident in Mike’s ability to execute the needed change and fully support his vision going forward.”

Earley served as the hitting coach on last year’s Texas A&M staff, which rattled off a run to Omaha. He appeared set to leave and follow Schlossnagle to Texas, but ultimately chose to stay put in College Station and take over at Texas A&M.

At the time, the Aggies lost multiple big names to the portal, including Jace LaViolette and Gavin Grahovac. However, they both chose to return, as did a crew of others.

After the down year, there were questions about whether Texas A&M would run it back with Earley. His buyout sat at around $3 million, and On3’s Pete Nakos reported details of the looming decision ahead of the baseball transfer portal window.

Alberts previously confirmed he had some conversations with Michael Earley following Texas A&M’s season-ending loss to LSU in the SEC tournament. Speaking with reporters this past week at the SEC spring meetings, Alberts said a “recap” meeting was in the works once he returned from Destin.

“I’ve had a little bit of communication with Michael, but I’d love to get back to College Station, sit down and sort of recap,” Alberts said, via the Houston Chronicle’s Kirk Bohls. “Obviously we had some highs in baseball. Clearly we fell short. It was a frustrating season and disappointing on a lot of different levels.”

This sounds easy but comes with the assumption that universities – which, for decades, have sought to eke out every edge they can, rulebook or no – will provide accurate data.

“Over history, boosters have looked for ways to give their schools an advantage,” said Gabe Feldman, a sports law professor at Tulane. “I think that will continue even with the settlement. It’s anyone’s guess as to how that manifests, and what the new competitive landscape looks like.”

Adding some level of transparency to the process, along with the CSC’s ability to deliver sanctions if it identifies cheaters, will be key to the new venture’s success.

“There’s legal risk that prohibits you from doing that,” Alberts said. “But we want to start as transparent as we can be, because we think it engenders trust.”

Good intentions aside, Alberts concedes, “I don’t think it’s illogical to think that, at first, it’s probably going to be a little wonky.”

How much should an endorsement deal be worth?

Some of the wonkiest bookkeeping figures to come from the second category of number crunching, and that involves third-party NIL deals. The CSC hired Deloitte to run a so-called clearinghouse called “NIL Go,” which will be in charge of evaluating third-party deals worth $600 or more.

Because these deals aren’t allowed to pay players simply for playing – that’s still technically forbidden in college sports — but instead for some service they provide (an endorsement, a social media shoutout and so forth), every deal needs to be evaluated to show it is worth a fair price for what the player is doing.

In a sobering revelation, Deloitte shared with sports leaders earlier this month that around 70% of third-party deals given to players since NIL became allowable in 2021 would have been denied by the new clearinghouse.

All these valuations, of course, are subject to interpretation. It’s much easier to set the price of a stock, or a bicycle, than the value of an athlete’s endorsement deal. This is where things figure to get dicey. Though the committee has an appeals process, then an arbitration process, ultimately, some of these cases are destined to be challenged in court.

High school basketball standout Kiyan Anthony joins the show and goes deep with Deja Kelly talking about stepping out of father Carmelo Anthony’s shadow and creating a legacy of his own.

In this exclusive Nilosophy interview, the Syracuse commit opens up about his transition from high school to college basketball and balancing life as an athlete, entrepreneur, and influencer.

He also discusses the business advice he’s learned from Carmelo and La La Anthony, building generational wealth and navigating NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals, and staying mentally sharp while handling fame, family, and pressure.