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UI's new course offers students a chance to learn more about NIL

After decades of begging, arguing, and even some then-illegal activity, college athletes finally got what they so desperately wanted — and surely deserved. Now in its fourth year since becoming a legal action, Name, Image, and Likeness, or NIL, has brought valuable opportunities for college athletes to be compensated for playing their respective sport. This […]

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UI's new course offers students a chance to learn more about NIL

After decades of begging, arguing, and even some then-illegal activity, college athletes finally got what they so desperately wanted — and surely deserved.

Now in its fourth year since becoming a legal action, Name, Image, and Likeness, or NIL, has brought valuable opportunities for college athletes to be compensated for playing their respective sport. This includes earning money through commercials, brand deals, sponsorships, and endorsements as well as being paid directly by the school.

Several positives have followed as a result. The student-athletes can focus more on their sport and schoolwork and provide for their families. But the NIL era is still in its early stages, and besides those who are directly involved with a collegiate team, not many people outside of that are properly educated on the subject.

With that, the University of Iowa implemented a course called “NIL: Simulated Agency Experience” that allows non-athletes wanting to learn about the NIL space to do so through hands-on experience by working with voluntary student-athletes.

“I tried to create a course that would give students a taste of what actually representing student athletes in NIL deals is like,” said SAE professor Daniel Matheson. “My goal then by the end of the semester is that they will have learned a lot about what’s happening in the NIL space overall, and in addition, they will learn a little bit about what it’s like to represent athletes, and any sort of talent, in the pursuit of their professional goals.

“[The participating student] might want to be a sports agent, and this class gets them as close as they can without actually doing the real work for the athlete.”

Matheson is a Professor of Instruction and an Adjunct Professor in the College of Law while serving as the Director of the Sport and Recreation Management program. Last year, he approached the Iowa Athletics department with the idea of an NIL-based class and was given the green light to start up the course. This is the first semester in which SAE is being taught.

“This class is so different from other law classes because of the group activities and guest speakers,” SAE participant and law student Lauren Keating said. “Typical law classes have you read cases or other materials and a professor lectures at you for about an hour and 15 minutes while randomly calling on people to answer questions.

The class is based heavily on participation. Students are required to engage with guest speakers and be active in group projects and discussions.

“We just finished up having guest speakers and they were all very question based, so if we wanted to know something we needed to ask for it. Also, with our end of year project, we are working in groups, so every idea needs to be discussed and researched as a group before we do anything else.”

A student takes notes on a client meeting presentation during the NIL: Simulated Agency Experience course, instructed by Daniel Matheson, in the English-Philosophy Building on April 29, 2025. This course teaches students about name, image, and likeness (NIL) and what it’s like to represent college athletes in NIL deals through a simulated agency environment. (Samantha DeFily)

The three-credit course is listed on the university’s ICON website under SRM:4240 but has a restriction label attached to it. In order to join the course, students had to express to Matheson why they wanted to take his class, and from there he hand-picked his participants out of the pool.

Matheson designed it that way for two reasons: to make sure upper-level students who expressed interest had first dibs before they graduated, and to host a mix of different majors to draw different skill sets and viewpoints. That way, the students can learn from one another.

The 30-person class hosts students that are law majors, journalism majors, business majors, and everything in-between.

“I took this class because I want to become a sports lawyer in the future,” Keating said. “The tides with collegiate sports are moving so fast that new information and changes are happening every single day, so it’s important to learn as much as possible about the processes of NIL before we go out and work in the field.”

Through the first part of the course, Matheson welcomed several guest speakers to his class, from SWARM and the local sports marketing department at Hy-Vee to some of the bigger talent agencies in the field like William Morris Endeavor.

Along with the guest speakers is a group of Iowa student-athletes who aren’t registered for the course but voluntarily participate. That group includes men’s basketball’s Drew Thelwell, women’s gymnastics’ Adeline Klenin, women’s diving’s Makalya Hughbanks, spirit squad’s Mackenzie Beckmann, and women’s soccer’s Kelli McGroarty.

The students, split up into groups, compose NIL-based projects throughout the semester and will present them to their represented student-athletes towards the tail end of the class.

“I believe the athletes benefit because they have a group of people trying to help them,” Keating said. “While not all of our athletes will retain eligibility after this year, we actively work to find local or bigger companies they could consider working with in the future.

“Many student athletes especially in smaller sports aren’t taught what to do in terms of reaching out to brands, building their own brand, or negotiating their contracts, so one of the hopes of this class is we can present them with ideas to get them started so they have a better footing on where to start so they can jump start their personal brands,” she added.

This class is a very unique opportunity to learn about the new wave of collegiate sports. And for that reason, it will continue to take place every second semester for the foreseeable future as it’s gained substantial feedback just one semester into its existence.

Matheson had a vision when he created this course, and that vision goes well beyond what is taking place inside his classroom.

“Maybe in two, three, five, 10 years from now, I see some of the students from this class working maybe in the NIL space,” Matheson said “See some of these students that have maybe got their their initial inspiration, or saw a pathway for themselves into the NIL space in their careers and make that happen. That would be

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Paul Mainieri on South Carolina struggles before LSU series | LSU

Paul Mainieri has gone through this before. He just thought that he wouldn’t have to do it again. Mainieri believed the South Carolina team he inherited had some talent, enough so that the Gamecocks could compete immediately in the toughest conference in college baseball. He didn’t think his first year at his new school would be as […]

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Paul Mainieri has gone through this before. He just thought that he wouldn’t have to do it again.

Mainieri believed the South Carolina team he inherited had some talent, enough so that the Gamecocks could compete immediately in the toughest conference in college baseball.

He didn’t think his first year at his new school would be as difficult as it was in 2007, his first season at LSU.

“In the fall, I thought there were a few pieces,” Mainieri told The Advocate.

But after getting swept at Clemson during nonconference play, Mainieri recognized shortcomings with his new team. They proved to be holes he couldn’t fill during Southeastern Conference play.

“The conference is just so tough. You know, it’s unforgiving,” Mainieri said. “And our schedule in particular was really difficult this year, and it exposed our limitations, where we have them.”

South Carolina holds a 5-22 record in the SEC. Mainieri’s team is 27-26 overall and has won only one series in conference play, taking down Ole Miss twice last month.

The Gamecocks are nowhere near the postseason picture heading into this weekend’s series against LSU beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday (SEC Network) in Columbia, South Carolina.

“I forgot how hard it is to win college baseball games, I guess,” Mainieri said.

Mainieri’s difficulties this season in some ways mirror what happened in 2007, when he left Notre Dame for Baton Rouge to replace Smoke Laval.

The Tigers were 29-26-1 that season and went just 12-17-1 in SEC play. Mainieri knew he’d have to take his lumps, but his confidence never wavered when it came to whether he could turn the program around.

“I told the team that, ‘This will be the last year that LSU was ever taken lightly again,’ ” Mainieri said. “And it’s a pretty bold comment, based upon what had happened in the first year. But I don’t think LSU has been taken lightly again since then.”

The Tigers went to Omaha the next season before winning their sixth national championship in 2009. But before they could find that level of success, they had to build the foundation in 2007.

That meant turning to freshmen such as Jared Mitchell, Sean Ochinko, Ryan Schimpf and Blake Dean. Dean led the Tigers in batting average and started every game.

“If we’re not going to win at a high level, at least I’m going to get these good freshmen a lot of experience and playing time, so it’ll pay off down the road,” Mainieri said. “And it certainly did with that group of guys at LSU.”

Mainieri has deployed a similar strategy at South Carolina, hoping that freshmen such as KJ Scobey and Beau Hollins can help turn around a program that won back-to-back national championships in 2010-11.

“They’ve had up-and-down moments, just like the kids did way back in the 2007 season,” Mainieri said. “But they’ve also shown what they’re capable of doing at times.”

But a lot has changed since Mainieri retired at LSU after the 2021 season, and even more about the game has evolved since 2007.

There’s NIL. There’s the transfer portal. There’s more pitchers than ever throwing 95-plus miles per hour, and more hitters than ever strong enough to consistently hit balls out of the park.

Mainieri knew these were hurdles he’d have to tackle when he decided to return to the dugout last summer, but the sheer impact of it all caught him a bit off-guard.

“The strength of the players, the velocities of the pitchers, that has been a big change since I retired four years ago,” Mainieri said. “I was telling someone the other day, we’re beating Ole Miss 5-1 in the sixth inning or something, and they bring a guy in out of the pen throwing 100 miles an hour.

“I remember when Jaden Hill touched 96 mph in a fall game, and how everybody oohed and ahhed. I remember Alex Lange’s first pitch of his career (was 95 mph) … and you could hear the buzz throughout the crowd.”

This brutal reality has, in part, led to South Carolina being third-to-last in the SEC in home runs (27) and second-to-last in ERA (9.27).

“We’ve just struggled on the mound mightily,” Mainieri said. “You just look at our statistics, and it’s easy to see that.”

Acquiring the horses necessary to compete in the SEC is the next step for Mainieri. He said he’s already hard at work on the recruiting trail for next year and beyond.

But recruiting high school players is just a slice of the pie in the modern era of college baseball. Adding immediate impact transfers with the help of sufficient NIL funds is a component of roster building that has become equally crucial in 2025.

“When I first got here last summer, we lost a lot of recruiting battles because other schools were giving a more, shall I say, appealing package to kids,” Mainieri said. “That’s the reality of the world we live in now. The schools that have a lot of money and are willing to give it to the players are getting the best players.

“We were playing Tennessee, for example, and the first baseman (Andrew Fischer) and the No. 1 starting pitcher (Liam Doyle) both played for Ole Miss last year, and both had a lot of success for Ole Miss last year. Why would they change schools from Ole Miss to Tennessee? Because they like the color orange? I mean, let’s be honest.”

Mainieri is still confident he can get South Carolina back to where it was 15 years ago. It’s a feat he already accomplished at LSU.

But he knows it’s not going to be easy.

“We just have to upgrade and get better, like we did after the first year at LSU,” Mainieri said. “And hopefully we will. We’re all working like crazy on recruiting for next year.”



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SB | Bennett and Castillo Named First Team WCC All-Academic, Six More Named Honorable Mention

Story Links SAN BRUNO, Calif. — As just announced by the West Coast Conference, eight Gaels have been named to the 2025 All-Academic Team, with a pair, Chelsea Bennett and Victoria Castillo, being named as first team honorees. With eight total honorees, the Gaels tie Pacific for the most student-athletes on this […]

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SAN BRUNO, Calif. — As just announced by the West Coast Conference, eight Gaels have been named to the 2025 All-Academic Team, with a pair, Chelsea Bennett and Victoria Castillo, being named as first team honorees. With eight total honorees, the Gaels tie Pacific for the most student-athletes on this distinguished list. In order to qualify for the All-Academic Team, Student-athletes in must meet all the following standards:

(a) A minimum 3.20 cumulative grade point average (GPA) based on the most recently completed term at the time of the nomination. So far softball, it would be the fall term. Prior to the nomination, the appropriate institutional academic authorities shall review the grades of the prospective nominees. 

(b) Be a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletic credentials.

(c) Have at least sophomore athletic and academic standing with at least one year in residence completed at the nominating institution. (True freshmen, redshirt freshmen and ineligible transfers may not be nominated). An ineligible transfer refers to somebody who transferred to your team following the 2023-24 academic year and is on your roster for the first time in 2025. 

(d) Participate in at least 50 percent of the institution’s completed contests. Pitchers may be nominated if they participate in at least 25 percent of the institution’s completed.

Junior pitcher Chelsea Bennett was honored as a first team member of the All-Academic team for the first time in her career. Having her best season to date, the Warriewood, Australia native has been a top bullpen arm for the Gaels this year. In 14 appearances, 10 of which came out of the bullpen, Bennett worked 37 innings, amassing a career-best 3.78 ERA. A biology major, Bennett has maintained a cumulative 3.75 GPA. 

Also a junior, Victoria Castillo was the second Gael to be honored as a first team All-Academic selectee. Putting together her best all-together softball campaign, the Salinas, California product has seen jumps in every stat this year, including a 0.337 average, good for second on the team, all while also managing a position change from right field to second base. Castillo closed out her season on an 11 game hit streak, the best of any Gael this season. A sociology major, Castillo has maintained a cumulative 3.84 GPA, the highest of any upperclassmen on the team. This is the second time in as many years that Castillo has been honored as a first team All-Academic member. 

The following Gaels were named honorable mention WCC All-Academic team members:

Jenavee Amador, Senior, Education, 3.23 GPA

Tori Cervantes, Junior, Exercise Science, 3.43 GPA

Claudia Kirchner, Senior, Health Science, 3.36 GPA

Taylor Lane, Redshirt Junior, Special Education, 3.68 GPA

Odhi Vasquez, Junior, Health Science, 3.25 GPA

Avrey Wolverton, Redshirt Junior, Psychology, 3.36 GPA

#GaelsRise

 



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SB | Buckley and Vasquez Headline Group of Eight Gaels Honored as All-Conference Selectees

Story Links SAN BRUNO, Calif. — The back-to-back WCC Champs once again were well represented on the end-of-year all-conference list, as eight Saint Mary’s Gaels were honored with an all-conference nod, including six receiving first or second team honors. This is the second most ever by the Gaels split between first and […]

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May 15, 2025

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SAN BRUNO, Calif. — The back-to-back WCC Champs once again were well represented on the end-of-year all-conference list, as eight Saint Mary’s Gaels were honored with an all-conference nod, including six receiving first or second team honors. This is the second most ever by the Gaels split between first and second team, with seven honored here a year ago. 

For the second straight year, Sam Buckley was named a first team All-WCC honoree. The sophomore out of Burbank led the WCC in home runs (14), RBI (41), slugging percentage (0.818) and on-base percentage (0.523), while finished top-three in the conference in batting average (0.402), doubles (11) and runs scored (47). She set the Saint Mary’s single season records for home runs, RBI and runs scored this year, and finished out the year with the fourth highest single season batting average in program history.  While her offensive numbers were incredible, Buckley was also one of the unsung defensive heroes for the Gaels, committing just two errors all season at the hot corner. Her career average climbed to 0.380 this year, currently sitting at the best of any student-athlete ever to suit up as a Gael, while she ranks in the top-10 in total runs scored (84) and the top-five in triples (8) and home runs (18) for her career. Buckley was a three time WCC Player of the Week of winner, tied for the most of any player in the conference. 

A two time second team All-WCC performer, Odhi Vasquez earned her first first team nod after once again serving as the Gaels ace. The junior out of Upland led the WCC in wins (13), shutouts (4), and opponents batting average (0.204), while ranking second in ERA (2.59) and strikeouts (129). Vaquez etched her name into the history books, with the fifth most shutouts, seventh most strikeouts and eighth most wins of any Gael in a single season. For her career, Vasquez has now earned 31 wins (9th in program history) and 10 shutouts (5th in program history), while working 358.2 innings (10th in program history), striking out 320 (6th in program history and amassing a career 2.73 ERA (7th in program history). A four time WCC Pitcher of the Week this year, Vasquez won this honor more than any other pitcher in the conference. 

Four Gaels earned second team honors; Victoria Castillo, Tori Cervantes, Camille Lara and Mia Nishikawa. Castillo is a first time honoree after hitting a career-best 0.337 this year, good for second on the team and ninth in the conference. Cervantes, also a first time honoree, boasted a career-best 0.315 average, while scoring 37 times (7th in the WCC), homering seven times (6th in the WCC) and stealing a team-high 12 bases (5th in the WCC). A first time All-WCC honoree, Lara led the Gaels with 54 hits, good for fifth in the conference, while slashing at 0.323. Rounding out the group of second team honorees, Mia Nishikawa earned her second second team nod in as many years, after finishing top five in the conference for ERA (3.14), wins (10), complete games (8) and shutouts (2). 

Catcher Jenavee Amador earned her second straight honorable mention nod, after finishing second on the team and sixth in the conference with 34 RBI. After starting every single game of her freshman campaign at shortstop, Mia Zabat was named to the WCC All-Freshman team. 

The Gaels finished their year at 28-23, with an 11-4 conference record, good for a share of the 2025 WCC Title. The 58 wins over the last two seasons mark the most ever over a two year stretch in program history. 

#GaelsRise

 





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Former John Calipari Five-Star Commit Makes Major NBA Draft Decision

With the NBA Draft set for June 25, players are weighing whether to stay in the draft or return for another year of college basketball. The rise of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) opportunities has added another layer to the decision-making process, making it even harder for many young athletes. Advertisement On Tuesday, one of […]

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With the NBA Draft set for June 25, players are weighing whether to stay in the draft or return for another year of college basketball.

The rise of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) opportunities has added another layer to the decision-making process, making it even harder for many young athletes.

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On Tuesday, one of the nation’s top freshmen made a major move by withdrawing from the draft and entering the transfer portal.

As reported by Jonathan Givony of ESPN:

“Boogie Fland is withdrawing from the NBA Draft and will not participate in the remainder of the NBA draft combine, his agent Mike Miller told ESPN.”

Fland, a standout at Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, New York, joined Arkansas as a five-star recruit and quickly became an impact player. Before suffering a hand injury in mid-January, the 6-foot-2 guard from the Bronx was averaging 13.5 points per game.

After the injury, Fland struggled to regain his role and played just nine minutes in Arkansas’s Sweet 16 loss in the NCAA Tournament. Some think Fland’s draft stock may have dipped after his midseason injury and limited playing time, making a return to college a chance to rebuild momentum and boost his long-term prospects.

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Boogie Fland and head coach John Calipari© Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Arkansas Razorbacks guard Boogie Fland and head coach John Calipari© Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Although he hasn’t made his final decision, it’s unlikely Fland returns to Arkansas. Head coach John Calipari has already been active in the transfer portal, bringing in players to help fill the potential gap left by Fland. Additions like Nick Pringle from South Carolina and Malique Ewin from Florida State should be exciting for Razorback fans in Fayetteville.

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There are also rumors that Fland could land in Florida. With Todd Golden and the Gators reportedly interested, the talented guard might just stay in the SEC.

Related: ESPN’s Dick Vitale Shares Major Personal Life Update on Monday

Related: Rick Barnes, Tennessee Receive Big News on Saturday



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ACC commissioner Jim Phillips feels good about the league’s newfound stability after chaos

Associated Press AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is entering a period of stability. How long it lasts is anyone’s guess. Not even commissioner Jim Phillips knows for sure. “I still live one day at a time,” Phillips quipped. The ACC wrapped up its spring meetings Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia […]

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Associated Press

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — The Atlantic Coast Conference is entering a period of stability.

How long it lasts is anyone’s guess. Not even commissioner Jim Phillips knows for sure.

“I still live one day at a time,” Phillips quipped.

The ACC wrapped up its spring meetings Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, with athletic directors and coaches having spent three days discussing wide-ranging issues affecting football and basketball.

The event came amid the backdrop of the pending $2.8 billion NCAA settlement, which would allow schools to share up to $20.5 million annually directly with their athletes.

The ACC spent the past two years tracking that legal battle while also wading through contentious litigation from two of its top member schools, Clemson and Florida State.

The Tigers and Seminoles approved a settlement in March that changed the league’s revenue-distribution model to benefit schools with marquee football brands. Both would presumably fall into that category.

Although the 2030-31 season looms as a potential spot for more changes to the college football landscape, the revised deal should fortify a league that looked to be on the verge of collapse while falling further behind the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten.

“I just think you got to settle down,” Phillips said, noting he envisions four or five years of stability ahead. “And I think college athletics needs it to settle down, not just the ACC. I think we’ve positioned ourselves for that, and that’s a good thing. It just is.

“Chaos and the constant wondering of what’s happening here or there, I just think that distracts from the business at hand. But I feel good about where we’re at.”

The league’s revised revenue-distribution model incorporates TV viewership as a way for the league’s top programs to generate more money.

Florida State, for example, expects roughly $18 million extra annually from the tweaked structure. Those schools outside the top tier could see a decline of about $7 million a year.

“We’re really excited that this is now put behind us,” FSU athletic director Michael Alford said. “We have a path going forward. We have a path to really look at how we control the conference together, how we expand on the great brands that are in this conference and really promote the ACC and especially ACC football moving forward and give it its day in the sun.”

Presidential help ahead?

Even though ACC schools are bracing for the NCAA settlement and how it will change their business model, Phillips believes President Donald Trump’s proposed commission on collegiate athletics could help.

“We have not been able to get this thing into the end zone, so to speak,” Phillips said. “If the President feels that a commission could potentially help, I’m all for it.”

The proposed commission would be co-chaired by former Alabama coach Nick Saban and current Texas Tech board of regents chairman Cody Campbell.

“I think it’s well-intended,” Phillips said. “I do feel that the time is right based on all the work that’s previously been done and a supportive administration that’s in there. So I’m hopeful that that can be a positive to an end result that gets us a standardized law across the country with NIL.”

NCAA president Charlie Baker spoke at the ACC meetings Monday and said he was “up for anything” if it helped formalize NIL laws that differ from state to state.

“I think it speaks to the fact that everybody is paying a lot of attention right now to what’s going on in college sports,” Baker said. “I’m up for anything that can help us get somewhere.”

Future of the CFP

While power four conferences — the ACC, the Big Ten, Big 12 and the SEC — continue to negotiate the future of the College Football Playoff beginning in 2026, Phillips declined to reveal specifics regarding the league’s stance on automatic qualifiers.

“I remain steadfast about fairness in the system and access,” he said. “Out of respect for my colleagues, I want to hold off on commenting about AQs and specific models.”

The 16-team playoff model that has been widely discussed would grant four automatic berths to the Big Ten, four to the SEC, two to the ACC and two to the Big 12. That would leave four bids, with as many as three of those going to at-large teams and the other to the highest-ranked team from the Group of Six.

The ACC, according to several coaches, wants three guaranteed spots.

“You start to wonder if we are going to have an invitational,” SMU coach Rhett Lashlee said. “Every year, one league may be better than the other, and it can change to some degree.

“To say we’re going to pick teams based on what’s happened the last 15 years, especially in an environment where we have more and more parity with the way the rules are, I think it’s a slippery slope.”

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football



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Lakers ahead of the curve as rivals scramble to adjust to major NBA Draft change

The introduction of NIL at the collegiate level has changed the NBA Draft in potentially irreversible ways. It’s taken time for those alterations to manifest, but the 2025 annual selection process is beginning to reveal how drastically the Association will be impacted—and how the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves ahead of the curve. According […]

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The introduction of NIL at the collegiate level has changed the NBA Draft in potentially irreversible ways. It’s taken time for those alterations to manifest, but the 2025 annual selection process is beginning to reveal how drastically the Association will be impacted—and how the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves ahead of the curve.

According to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, 106 players have entered the 2025 NBA Draft—the lowest number of early entrants since 2015.

It’s difficult to to evaluate this fact without acknowledging the impact of NIL. For those unfamiliar, NIL stands for Name, Image, and Likeness. The system has enabled college athletes to profit from those very elements of their individual presence, success, and, quite frankly, existence.

Many have debated whether NIL is beneficial to the institutions that long exclusively profited from their athletes’ success, but the bottom line is that players are now being paid for what they provide.

The results of that shift in the college landscape have included players realizing that it can be profitable to remain in school rather than declaring for the NBA Draft before they’re ready. Pre-draft evaluations can now be utilized to gauge how likely it is that a prospect is valued in a way that justifies the risk that comes with making the leap.

Thankfully for Los Angeles, Rob Pelinka and company have made a habit out of adding talent that most have overlooked.

NIL will require NBA teams to scout the unsung heroes—and the Lakers already thrive in that area

Los Angeles has made something of an art out of scouting and acquiring players who most overlooked. An argument could be made that the most recent example was Dalton Knecht, who fell to the Lakers at No. 17 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft because he was a 23-year-old incoming rookie.

Knecht went on to lead all Lakers reserves in points and three-point field goals made on both a per game and per-36 basis during his rookie season.

Los Angeles’ success has ranged beyond the first round, including the acquisition of undrafted free agents. That process arguably began when the Lakers added a former undrafted free agent and four-year college basketball player in 2017 by the name of Alex Caruso.

Caruso would go on to play a key defensive role as the Lakers won the 2020 NBA championship and has now earned two All-Defense honors during his career.

The current and shining example of Los Angeles’ success in drafting the players others chose to overlook is Austin Reaves. Reaves was a 23-year-old incoming rookie who spent five seasons at the collegiate level, splitting the time between Wichita State and Oklahoma.

Four years later, Reaves is widely regarded as one of the most promising up-and-coming talents in the NBA, boosted by his 2024-25 averages of 20.2 points and 5.8 assists per game.

Los Angeles has kicked itself for failing to lock up other players long-term, but still deserves credit for uncovering undrafted gems such as Jay Huff and Scotty Pippen Jr. in recent years. That success lends itself to the Lakers thriving in this new NBA environment.

Acing the NBA Draft now means knowing where to look off the beaten path—and few franchises are better at doing so than the Lakers.





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