Former FSU Players Sue Their Coach, Quinn Ewers' NIL Offer + ICYMI | Newsletter #301

Jan 02, 2025

Today’s Thursday newsletter includes highlights from this week, important news from past weeks, and what to watch for.

Keep up to date on all of our newsletters and content by checking out past Optimum Sports Consulting Newsletters, and following us on Twitter!

Recapping Major News This Week:

The six plaintiffs filed suit on Monday, alleging Hamilton failed to make good on a promise to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation.
The players walked out of practice last season over the missed payments. They also intended to boycott their game against Duke but ended up playing because of a guarantee from Hamilton that they would be paid. They never were.
None of the plaintiffs remain with the team. Two of them exhausted their eligibility, and the other four transferred.
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Earlier this week, news broke that Quinn Ewers was offered a $6 million NIL deal. Ewers is still the starting quarterback at the University of Texas.
If the news of the NIL offer is true, it is brazen tampering. Ewers is still an active player on the Texas roster and has not entered the transfer portal.
Texas will have to decide whether to keep Ewers or start Arch Manning. Ewers will be choosing between the NFL or another year in college football making an NFL-type salary. His choice will be a landmark one to determine how competitive NIL is becoming in the marketplace with the NFL.
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University of Maryland hired a General Manager to oversee their athletics - LINK
Wide receiver Jabari Mack signs NIL deal with Leaf Trading Cards - LINK
Student-athletes owe taxes on bowl-related merchandise worth more than $2,500 - LINK
Colorado QB recruit JuJu Lewis partners with NIL platform Fanstake - LINK
Miami golf recruit Kai Trump signs her first ever NIL deal with Leaf Trading Cards - LINK

LSU Head Coach Brian Kelly Makes NIL Fundraising Offer

Brian Kelly has repeatedly stated that he came to LSU to compete for national championships. Now, Kelly and his wife have pledged to match donations to the Tiger Athletic Foundation's Excellence Fund up to $1 million from Dec. 13 to Feb. 5, 2025.
Coaches are not allowed to contribute directly to a school's NIL efforts, but Kelly is able to do so by instead giving to the collective.
“In order to remain among the nation’s elite in this new world of college athletics, we have to be competitive in all areas of our program. I am committed to doing all that we can to win championships at LSU. While we are not permitted to financially support our NIL efforts directly, Paqui and I can certainly match this tremendous fanbase’s generosity by investing in the future of LSU Athletics through the Tiger Athletic Foundation," Kelly said.
When he was hired in 2022, Kelly made a similar $1 million donation directly to the school to help complete facility improvements and other renovations for his team.
CLICK HERE to learn more.

Louisville defeated Washington in the Sun Bowl on Tuesday. Louisville senior punter Brady Hodges was missing from the game. He went on X to explain his reasoning for not playing in the game: he hasn’t been paid what he was promised by the university’s NIL collective.
“I have not been with the team since December 10th,” Hodges wrote. “@502_Circle told me September 6th, they would be paying and are still yet to hold up their end of the deal. I graduated on December 13th and had every intention on being with the team had they held up their end of the deal.”
Hodges is just another case of a player missing out on promised NIL and choosing not to play. Matthew Sluka refused to finish his season with UNLV over missing NIL payments, and just this week, former FSU basketball players are suing their coach over promised NIL payments. It is likely that we will see more disputes like this over NIL in the future unless laws and regulations are put in place to regulate the NIL market.

Keep up to date on all of our newsletters and content by checking out past Optimum Sports Consulting Newsletters, and following us on Twitter!