Newsletter #82 | Updated NIL Laws, Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe, Cavinder Sisters to Miami, UCLA's Westwood Exchange + ICYMI Ticker
Welcome to the NIL Newsletter by Optimum Sports Consulting - providing valuable, actionable NIL resources for athletes, administrators, agencies and other sport professionals.
Recapping NIL This Week:
Tennessee/Mississippi update NIL laws, Illinois/Louisiana to follow
Tennessee and Mississippi both modified their laws this week to allow schools and their employees to be involved in the facilitation of deals.
Illinois and Louisiana currently have similar modifications to their laws working up the respective state legislatures as well.
Per Attorney Mit Winter: “Tennessee also removed a provision in its NIL law that prohibited “entities whose purpose” is supporting/benefitting an athletics program from doing deals with current/prospective athletes that are contingent on enrollment/participation in athletics at a school.” The University of Tennessee made headlines recently after a reported $8 million deal was signed with an unnamed football recruit.
Full amendments can be found HERE.
MBB Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe is staying at Kansas
Tshiebwe announced Wednesday he’d be returning to Lexington rather than turning pro after testing the NBA draft waters earlier this month. The defending National Player of the Year averaged more than 17 points and 15 rebounds per game in 2021–22, his first year with Kentucky, and helped lead the Wildcats to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament before being stunned in the first round by Saint Peter’s.
Tshiebwe is the first national POY to stay in school since Tyler Hansbrough at North Carolina in 2008–09. It could also be argued that Hansbrough was Oscar before Oscar, a relentless battler around the basket with limited offensive skill away from the hoop and no great talent as a rim protector. There is even less of an NBA market for that kind of player now than there was in Hansbrough’s day and far more economic incentive to stay in school.
NIL deals are a newly added variable to the NBA decision-making process. Tshiebwe’s star power and the fact that he plays for a team with a fan base like Kentucky’s makes him one of if not the most valuable men’s player from an NIL standpoint in the country.
But because Tshiebwe was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and attends school on an F1 student visa, there had been significant limitations to what work he could do from an NIL deals standpoint. As Kyle Tucker of The Athletic reported, several of those hurdles were cleared late in the season, allowing Tshiebwe to make enough money to begin the process of moving his mother, Kaya, from Congo to the United States. Now, his mother will get to see the star he has become in Lexington.
Hanna and Haley Cavinder are transferring to Miami
The Cavinder sisters – identical 5’6” twin guards who combined to average 34.2 points per game in their three seasons at Fresno State and built an enormous social media following during the pandemic – announced Thursday night that they are transferring to Miami.
The Cavinder’s instantly became stars of the NIL era as soon as it became an option for SAs on July 1, 2021. Boost Mobile signed them immediately, touting that move with a giant advertisement in Times Square. Other deals – including ones with Champs Sports, Eastbay and apparel company PSD – soon followed, and they have an ownership stake in another apparel company. They can also be hired through the site Cameo for personalized video messages or ones for a business.
The duo join a Hurricanes program that finished 21-13 this past season, went to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. "When we got on campus, there was just a vibe and a feeling you get when you know it is the right decision," Haley Cavinder said. "I just think with Coach Katie and the leader she is and what she has done with the program, there is something that we were so attracted to, and I think we knew when leaving Miami that we wanted to come back."
The Cavinder’s are from Arizona, but the move to Miami is a homecoming of sorts for the family. The sisters' father, Tom Cavinder, played at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida – about 45 minutes north of Coral Gables – from 1992 through 1994.
*BONUS NEWS* Several students at Villanova Law - who had a final presentation on NIL in their sports law class - had the Cavinder’s send out a Cameo message to their professor and TA. Video HERE.
UCLA announces Westwood Exchange
Westwood Exchange will allow businesses, donors, fans and alumni to register with the school so that they can connect directly with athletes seeking NIL deals that could include autograph sessions, private lessons in their respective sports, public appearances, athletic camps and social media promotion, among other possibilities.
The initiative is expected to be centered on small, local businesses that want to engage UCLA athletes and could be especially beneficial in landing deals for those who compete in lower-profile sports.
“We are excited to add Westwood Exchange to our NIL programming,” UCLA Athletic Director Martin Jarmond said. “This streamlined process enables alumni, fans and local business to engage with our student-athletes like never before. Exchange gives our student-athletes direct access to Bruin Nation and vice versa.”
After registering, businesses or individuals can contact athletes through a portal listing those interested in seeking NIL deals. The portal also facilitates payment and issues compliance documents in addition to tax forms the athletes will need to disclose their income. Companies can register at uclabruins.com/westwoodexchange.
UCLA previously announced Westwood Ascent, which provided tutorials for athletes on NIL basics, building personal brands and disclosing deals. UCLA also has offered NIL programs through the Anderson School of Management, the Center for Media, Entertainment and Sports and the Law School’s Ziffren Institute for Media, Entertainment, Technology and Sports Law.
ICYMI Ticker
Attorney John Ruiz, who has been one of the most notable “activist” NIL boosters to date, announced that Kansas State PG Nijel Pack is transferring to Miami. Pack signed a 2-year / $800,000 brand deal with Ruiz’s company Life Wallet and will also receive a car. More HERE.
Ole Miss FB HC Lane Kiffin on NIL: “And really, if you’re great, I mean, think how messed up the system is. If you’re a great player, you’re Bryce Young after the National Championship last year, you should go in the portal, even if you want to stay at Alabama. Because all you’ll do is drive up your price there because then the collectives there will suddenly come up with a lot of money to keep you.”
Florida State has its 3rd collective- Micconope 1851, LLC announced its launch and says it’s focused “on the professional and life development skills” of athletes at FSU.
Check out this in-depth article about PSU QB Sean Clifford’s agency.
Oklahoma AD Joe Castiglione: “I hate to be a ‘I told you so’ kind of person but this is what we tried to fight against, this is ridiculous to be candid. Everybody wants to go back to what they thought it was going to be but the combination of now the transfer portal and name, image and likeness and a number of other changes hitting at one time, people are leveraging one against the other and I’ve talked to coaches and they feel trapped in a way. Maybe not the right word but they’re sitting there trying to re-shape a roster and you’re working on prospects of athletes that are coming out of high school in a traditional way, players on your team that have now entered the transfer portal so you have to fill spots you didn’t expect, and then you fill them with a high school athlete or transfer portal individual and when you bring them into the program, somebody on the team gets mad because of the person you brought in, so they go to the transfer portal.”
Non-profit NIL collective Illini Guardians has retained @XchangeFactor to build its subscription program. The company also has relationships with collectives that support WVU, Auburn, and Penn State.
Student athletes at Oklahoma State have a new resource in the NIL space - a collective formed by OKSU supporters called Unbridled. Full thread of the announcement on Twitter HERE.
Wisconsin announced YouDub Marketplace, which will serve as Wisconsin's official NIL marketplace powered by Opendorse.
Sports attorney Darren Heitner announced the establishment of the Gator Guard. “This new, exclusive, very influential group of high-net-worth Gators is being run by Hugh Hathcock and has raised $3 million in 24-hours.” Heitner later updated the total to $5 million. More HERE.
As part of Ball YOU, the Ball State Cardinals are partnering with Opendorse.