Rep for Miami star Wong: Better NIL deal or exit
Miami star basketball player holding out for more money or stating he will transfer.
College sports are absolutely fucked.
The real problem is their "representation" plus immediate eligibility. If you get rid of immediate eligibility, it'll stop a lot of the nonsense and tampering in its tracks, but right now kids have major financial incentive to put themselves on the auction block after a good freshman year.
Their "representation" is pushing these kids to only look at the NIL check that they can cash. The agent gets a 10% cut so do you think they'd ever advise a kid "hey go to Stanford, it's your best long term decision" versus "yeah I know that Western Kentucky doesn't have the best academics, but they're offering you $50k! take the money!" It's lunacy. All these agents want is a payday.
What I've heard with ND is that one of the reasons ND is having success right now (in addition to Freeman and this staff being great... and we'll see if it stays this way come signing day) is that in the NIL era a lot of kids/families are really starting to see the big picture that ND has always tried to sell. "This degree is worth $350k, you'll make $X in your career outside of football when you graduate, and here is what guys are making in NIL" actually resonates pretty well versus crappy state schools that are like "yeah our school is cheap and bad, but we'll give you $400k up front". So the same value ND has always pitched is starting to have broader appeal and you have better people delivering the message... more people are looking at it like a business decision now. Are you going to turn down MILLIONS from Tennessee if you're looking out for your pocket book first? Nah, probably not. And some kids really want that up front guaranteed money.
I do worry about classes from '23 onwards getting on campus though and being induced to transfer because ND isn't locking people in with NIL contracts how an A&M or someone else does.