Nick Saban doesn’t think we actually need a presidential commission.

PublishedMay 20, 2025 1:22 PM EDT•UpdatedMay 20, 2025 1:23 PM EDT

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While we continue to wait for the outcome of the House settlement, the college athletics world is not sitting still while a judge in California decides the fate of NIL and revenue sharing. 

Some collegiate leaders are pushing buttons, trying to decide what’s best for athletes moving forward. There has been talk of a presidential commission to find different solutions to the current problems plaguing college sports, most namely NIL and the transfer portal. 

Though President Donald Trump is all for making college sports great again, there could be a different way to solve some of the ongoing problems. There has been talk in Washington of the president forming a federal commission, hoping to bring together some of the brightest minds in the college athletics world to come up with solutions on how to help the current situation, with early reports indicating Nick Saban would be involved. 

But once again, the former Alabama head coach has made it clear that he doesn’t think we actually need a commission to solve these problems, though he is open to being a consultant. 

“I know there’s been a lot of stuff out there about some commission or whatever. I don’t think we need a commission. I’ve said that before,” Nick Saban said, according to Mike Rodak. “I think we need — we know what the issues are, we just have to have people who are willing to move those and solve those and create some solutions for some of those issues. I’m all for being a consultant to anybody who would think that my experience would be beneficial to helping create some of those solutions.”

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – President Donald Trump shakes hands with former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban as Trump takes the stage to address graduating students at Coleman Coliseum at the University of Alabama on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

What we do know is that President Donald Trump has taken a keen interest in helping figure out a way to support a change in college athletics, which Nick Saban pointed out during his charity golf event on Tuesday. 

“I know President Trump is very interested in athletics. He’s very interested in college athletics,” Nick Saban said about Donald Trump. “He’s very interested in maintaining the idea that people go to college to create value for the future in terms of how they develop as people, students, graduation rate, as well as having a balanced, competitive playing field. If I can be a consultant to anyone who might be able to help the future of college athletics, I would be more than happy to do that.”

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Whether this goes anywhere from here will be up to those inside the President’s office, along with key members of Congress who have been pushing for some type of fix to the upcoming problems that will come with the House settlement. 

Right now, there are plenty of people working to make sure their schools are protected, as the State of Tennessee did last week when passing a law that would essentially prohibit any type of punishment for universities that reside in the state. 

This protection was a counter-measure to a move discussed by power-four commissioners, which would have each school participating in the House Settlement sign a document that would protect the ‘College Sports Commission’ from any lawsuits pertaining to the agreement. 

All this will do is lead to more lawsuits, as it will be very hard to convince schools, legally, that they cannot abide by state laws, but have to concede to a ‘signed agreement’ that would curtail any type of lawsuits pertaining to the House settlement. This is a clear sign of how scared some folks are of further antitrust lawsuits. 

When taking a look at DU’s major sports teams, the transfer portal has had a mixed impact. Basketball is undergoing the biggest transformation, and gymnastics has taken a big hit, losing its biggest star. Hockey and soccer remain stable, and it is a wait-and-see for lacrosse.

Just take a look at DU’s core sports of gymnastics, hockey, men’s soccer, and lacrosse, and you will see the current impact of the transfer portal on the University of Denver.

Men’s Basketball – March 24th – April 22nd (Closed)

During the basketball portal window, 2,544 student-athletes entered the portal.  Former Summit League Freshman of the Year Sebastian Akins is now at Wake Forest. DU center Isaiah Carr landed at Drake, point guard DeAndre Craig at Purdue Fort Wayne, center Abdulai Fanta Kabba at Western Carolina, guard Jon Mani at the University of Colorado, guard Nicholas Shogbonyo at Texas A&M- Corpus Christi, and guard Ben Bowen at (D2) Northern State. 

Denver is left with returning guards Josh Lee, Devin Carney, and Loch Cunningham. Forwards Logan Kinsey, Corleone Dandridge, Carson Johnson, and Shaun Wysocki are coming to Denver from the University of Minnesota-Moorhead (DII,) following their new coaches. Gabe Oldham is coming to DU from Pima Community College (DII). Another DII product, guard Zane Wilson, is coming to DU from Missouri Western, and Julius Rollins (DI) from Western Illinois and Jerimiah Burke (DI) from North Dakota State. DU just added one of their most experience recruits, grad student Ian Motta from DI Bucknell who scored 10.1 ppg with 3.7 rbs. last season.

Early indications are that three of four incoming recruits who signed letters of intent (LOI) last year are heading in different directions due to the coaching change. Only Trajan Trajan Thompson has agreed to stay with the current Denver staff.  There are still open spots to be filled on next season’s roster.

Gymnastics Portal – Opened March 31-May 14th (Closed)

DU Gymnastics associate head coach Linas Gaveika, a key Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart lieutenant, announced his departure from the program along with assistant coach Stephen Hood. According to College Gym News, DU’s 19-year-old standout sophomore Madison Ulrich is shown entering the transfer portal, followed by visits to LSU, Oklahoma, and Utah. This marks the loss of DU’s most high-profile gymnast. Could the events be connected to the staff changes and/or NIL-related? Time will tell. Ulrich earned three individual All-American designations at the 2025 NCAA Championships.

Hockey Portal March 30th – May 13th (Closed)

Despite losing early departures Aidan Thompson and Jared Wright to the pros, Denver appears to be standing pat with their incoming  CHL-heavy freshman class – this is the first year in many decades that Canadian Major Junior players are eligible to play in the NCAA and David Carle is taking full advantage – after just one transfer portal departure. Goaltender Freddie Halyk will play for Brown next season. Forward Alex Weiermair, technically listed in the portal, left Denver in the middle of the 2024-25 season to sign with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and, at the moment, has not decided on a return to the NCAA.

NCHC peers Colorado College and Minnesota-Duluth have lost seven and nine players, respectively. Miami also lost seven players. Arizona State has six portal refugees. North Dakota has five exits.

Men’s Soccer November 25-December 24th (Closed)

Jamie Franks appears to be following the playbook employed by David Carle. According to Top Drawer Soccer, Denver appears to have retained all their eligible players, and they are not filling in gaps with portal transfers. That is not the case with many other programs stock piling portal transfers such as Eastern Illinois (11), Marshall (8), Coastal Carolina (6), Florida (6),  Michigan State (4), Indiana (4), Akron (4), St Louis (3) and South and UCLA (4) to name just a few.

Lacrosse Portal May 11th – June 9th (Open)

Denver has nine graduating seniors to include key contributors like Noah Manning, Casey Wilson, Jimmy Freehill, Mic Kelly, Jack Tortolani, and Malcolm Kleban. Look for Matt Brown and his coaching staff to tap the portal to fill the holes. If DU loses any key players, there is little time to replace players prior to the beginning of fall classes. 

By Alexis Demopoulos

A two-year veteran of the Northern Cyclones, forward Isac Martins was proud to announce his NCAA Division II commitment to Saint Anselm College for the 2025-26 season.

Martins, a Lake Barrington, Ill., native, started his NCDC career back during the 2022-23 season when he played in 17 games for the Rockets Hockey Club. Martins signed with the Cyclones for the 2023-24 season and put up 12 points in 32 games. It was a no-brainer for him to return this season. In 51 regular season games, Martins has 26 points (13G, 13A) and he was a big help in the Cyclones’ drive to the New England Division Championship.

“Having played for the Northern Cyclones for two seasons now, I have nothing but great things to say,” said Martins. “The facilities and staff available to the players give them every opportunity to not only succeed but thrive. I couldn’t be more grateful for Coach [Bill] Flanagan, Coach [Chris] Zuccaro and Coach [Bill] Weiand and the effects they’ve had on me as a player and as a person.”

Martins began communicating with Saint Anselm head coach Larry Rocha at the beginning of the season. He explained that Rocha was a big fan of his “speed, tenacity and complete game.” During the recruiting process, Martins was impressed with Saint Anselm and he loved the fact that he would be competing in a competitive hockey conference.

“Saint Anselm has a great program for what I want to study, with lots of resources in order to enable me to be the best student I can be,” said Martins. “On the hockey side, Saint Anselm is always competing to win the NE10, and I look forward to helping continue that over the next four years. Having a rink on campus and a great athletic gym will allow me to improve my game on and off the ice.”

Martins knows it’s important during the off-season to work hard and be ready to level up next season.

“Next season, I will be playing against older and stronger guys so I really am going to be focusing on getting more powerful and explosive in the gym,” said Martins. “Being bigger and stronger will be instrumental if want to be successful at the collegiate level.”

The NCDC congratulates Isac Martins, his family, the Northern Cyclones and Saint Anselm College for his commitment.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Tickets for the second annual State Farm Women’s College Volleyball Showcase, taking place during Labor Day weekend at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, go on sale to the public on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The event features four teams that played in last season’s NCAA Tournament, including the reigning national champion Penn State Nittany Lions.

Penn State will play Arizona State on Sunday, Aug. 31 and will take on TCU on Monday, Sept. 1. Both matches are scheduled for 5 p.m. Both the Sun Devils and Horned Frogs won their first-round matches before falling in the second round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Pitt, which advanced to the National Semifinal, will also play TCU and Arizona State at PPG Paints Arena.

Tickets, which start at $20, will be sold as individual day passes and will be good for admission into both matches on either Aug. 31 or Sept. 1. Fans interested in attending both days of the event will need to purchase tickets for matches on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1.

Fans can visit www.ticketmaster.com, www.ppgpaints.arena.com or the PPG Paints Arena box office to secure tickets.

Hamilton College’s Ramon Aroca Gonzalez ’26 tees off in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Men’s Golf Championship on the 10th hole at Cobblestone Creek Country Club in Victor, N.Y., on Tuesday, May 20 at 12:10 p.m.

Aroca Gonzalez begins his second round on the first tee at Midvale Country Club in Penfield, N.Y., at 7:55 a.m. on Wednesday, May 21. A total of 43 teams and 10 individuals not on one of those teams are playing in the championship. After 36 holes, the field will be cut to the top 18 teams and top six individuals not on one of those teams, and they will play a total of 36 more holes on May 22 and 23.

Aroca Gonzalez is the first Hamilton men’s golfer in the NCAA championship since the Continentals qualified as a team in 2022. He is the 2025 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men’s Golfer of the Year and has been an all-conference and all-region team selection all three years at Hamilton.

Aroca Gonzalez led the Continentals with an 18-hole stroke average of 72.40 for 20 rounds. He earned four individual medalist honors and finished in the top 10 seven times out of 10 tournaments.

Aroca Gonzalez played both of these courses as part of the Flower City Preview in September 2024. He carded a 4-under par 68 and added a 76 at Midvale CC and posted an even-par round of 72 at Cobblestone Creek CC.

 

Nick Saban has already met in-person with fellow presidential commission co-chair Cody Campbell, the billionaire Texas Tech booster, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger. Nevertheless, the former Alabama head coach and current ESPN College GameDay analyst still isn’t exactly sold on the need for President Donald Trump‘s planned commission on college sports.

“I know there’s been a lot of stuff out there about some commission or whatever. I don’t think we need a commission. I’ve said that before,” Saban said Tuesday ahead of his annual Nick’s Kids golf tournament in Birmingham, according to CBS Sports’ Mike Rodak. “I think we need — we know what the issues are, we just have to have people who are willing to move those and solve those and create some solutions for some of those issues. I’m all for being a consultant to anybody who would think that my experience would be beneficial to helping create some of those solutions.

“I know President Trump is very interested in athletics. He’s very interested in college athletics,” Saban continued, per Rodak. “He’s very interested in maintaining the idea that people go to college to create value for the future in terms of how they develop as people, students, graduation rate as well as having a balanced, competitive playing field. If I can be a consultant to anyone who might be able to help the future of college athletics, I would be more than happy to do that.”

Saban has been tabbed by Trump to headline his presidential commission. Per past reporting, it is expected to “deeply examine the unwieldy landscape of college sports, including the frequency of player movement in the transfer portal, the unregulated booster compensation paid to athletes, the debate of college athlete employment, the application of Title IX to school revenue-share payments and, even, conference membership makeup and conference television contracts,” according to Yahoo! Sports.

While the makeup of the commission is still developing, White House leaders have already begun “pooling recommendations” from those within the Power Four conferences, NCAA and athlete-focused groups for potential committee membership, according to Dellenger. The working group is expected to be limited to 10 or fewer members, with “a goal of political and cultural diversity,” per Dellenger.

Nick Saban ‘not sure we really need’ President Donald Trump’s commission on college sports

Of course, this isn’t the first time Saban has called Trump’s Presidential commission into question. He previously raised doubts during a recent appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.

“First of all, I don’t know a lot about the commission. Secondly, I’m not sure we really need a commission,” Saban said last week on the SEC Network. “I think that a lot of people know exactly what the issues are in college football and exactly what we need to do to fix them. The key to the drill is getting people together so we can move it forward.

“I’m not opposed to players making money, I don’t want anybody to think that. I just think the system that we (are using), the way it’s going right now is not sustainable, and probably not in the best interest of the student-athletes across the board or the game itself,” Saban continued. “I think we need to protect the brand, and the competitive advantages and disadvantages that are being created right now, and I think we can fix all that. But I think we know how to do it, and not just me but a lot of people, we just have to get everybody together to do it.”