What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, let’s talk about NIL.
AJ DYBANTSA AND BYU UPDATE THE NARRATIVE
I don’t really know where to start, if we’re being honest.
AJ Dybantsa wasn’t a normal recruitment. It was the new standard in collegiate recruitment. The No. 1 player in the Class of 2025 committed to BYU earlier this week.
This came after weeks of documented visits to some of the best programs in the country. Five years ago, he probably would have ended up at one of those schools. But, he ended up at BYU.
There’s a lot happening here. But, first his commitment got BYU tons of free media he announced it on ESPN’s First Take (it also included a stop on Stephen A. Smith’s separate talk show/podcast).
As it turns out, he had already signed, according to ESPN. Early signing day was a month ago. I’m not entirely sure why he waited to announce, but here we are.
He even got his own intro at the Marriott Center after the dust settled.
It’s a big deal. This comes a few month after BYU lured Egor Demin, a potential No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NBA Draft, to Provo. Why are they all flocking to Provo?
Well, BYU has always had a solid basketball program. But NIL has something to do with it, too.
There is plenty of reporting that he received anywhere from $5-7 million in NIL assurances. It also sounds like the competition matched with similar amounts. So, all things equal, that’s where he wanted to be.
But all things aren’t equal in NIL, of course. The NCAA showed us that this week.
The NCAA recently published projected NIL collective funding by power conference and by school for 2023-24 for public schools (so it didn’t include BYU). The top Big 12 school in collective funding was Iowa State at $7.5 million, followed closely by Kansas and Utah. Many SEC schools are well ahead of that.
So let’s just say that Dybantsa got the middle of that financial range at $6 million. Then the Cougars have money to burn when it comes to NIL and they can be players for any recruit they want. Seriously. They’ll have a seat at the table for any recruit that wants to listen to them.
And this is BEFORE the revenue sharing kicks in. And this is why NIL isn’t going anywhere because just doing revenue-sharing would be a step back.
The NCAA has posted the estimates for revenue sharing. Football will get the lion’s share, of course. But at 105 roster spots the breakdown looks like $140,741 per player. For men’s basketball it’s actually more at $218,506. Everyone else is below $100,000.
The revenue share is going to be the baseline. NIL will be the sweetener. It’s why the conferences and schools have fought to keep it as part of the new structure of the House settlement. The schools may eventually manage it. But it won’t be included in the revenue share because those schools know they can use NIL to nail down players like Dybantsa.
NIL makes it easier to compete for high-end players — if you have the money and if you can follow through on your promises. We have good examples of the latter failing this year.
The student-athlete model hasn’t changed. It’s been obliterated, honestly. At some point we will have our first eight-figure student-athlete. Probably in the next few years.
I think that is what has taken me most by surprise. I underestimated how quickly we would get to this point, how smart schools would become with collectives, how savvy student-athletes would be ready to work the system and how eager large companies were to work with student-athletes directly.
When people hear I wrote about college sports the conversation inevitably goes to NIL. Most like the fact that student-athletes can make money. Some are turned off by how much. I always ask them if they’ve stopped watching. They always say no.
There is no evidence that college sports fans have stopped watching because of NIL. The tug of the team you love will always overwhelm any offense you have for it. I’m in Oregon this weekend to see my SFA Lumberjacks play the Ducks on Sunday in basketball. This is how I spend part of my free time. I chase my alma mater around the country and I love it. And, yeah, I assume the players I support are getting some NIL money and I’m OK with it.
When I was in school I can promise you I made more on work study and second jobs than some football players did because NCAA rules prohibited them from working at certain times of the year and capped what earnings they could make in the summer.
I’m all for it. Makes as much as you can for as long as you can. An athlete’s life is limited to how long the body will hold out. Once the body is done, the career is done.
I just hope for three things...
I hope these student-athletes realize that most of them are only going to make enough money to build a nest egg for their post-school life. And that’s great. I needed a loan from my grandparents to buy my first car. I wasn’t poor. College is just expensive. Saving money is hard. The NIL money is, in essence, a gift that, if used properly, can set up a 22-year-old for a better life after school.
Second, get the degree. All that’s happening now doesn’t undervalue getting the degree because the NIL money only lasts as long as you’re in college and an athlete. The degree is forever and there is a wealth of research and data to support that having one enhances your life-long earning power. Don’t walk away without one. I see student-athletes, in many cases, walking away with a bachelor’s and a master’s before school ends for them. Good for them. They understood the value and made sure they got it.
Third, listen to the right people. That isn’t always easy. Money leads to too many people whispering big promises in student-athletes’ ears. The best advice I can give is get it all in writing and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Work with credible agents (student-athletes have them now) that have work with others you trust and vet them through that network. Develop a great BS detector.
Those last five words are great advice for any life situation. Some of you still think NIL is BS. That’s fine. But it’s not going anywhere and I assure you the student-athletes that are making the money don’t, whether they’re making Dybantsa-level money or cash more acceptable to you.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
