Latest news with #HouseSettlement
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
4-star offensive tackle chooses Florida State over Ohio State
Despite a pretty good recruiting class the Ohio State football program is putting together for the 2026 cycle, there's been more than a handful of misses that we don't normally see. That continued on Saturday when 4-star offensive tackle Da'Ron Parks announced a verbal commitment to Florida State over Ohio State. According to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Parks is ranked as the No. 26 interior offensive lineman and 350th overall prospect in the 2026 class. Despite the Buckeyes, he chose the Seminoles over Auburn and Georgia as well. It's not the end of the world for Ohio State because it already has commitments from several offensive tackles, including two 4-star Ohio products in Sam Greer and Maxwell Riley. The Buckeyes also have 3-star talents Aaron Thomas and Tucker Smith. But still, the program clearly has lost momentum in recruiting as it tries to figure out exactly how name, image and likeness and the House Settlement direct revenue payments are going to fit into everything. The Buckeyes are still sitting with 21 total commitments for a class that currently ranks No. 7 in the country according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
USA Today
4 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
5-star 2026 Ohio State running back target Savion Hiter announces commitment date
As it stands right now, the Ohio State football team has put together a very good recruiting class for the 2026 cycle, but if we're being honest, it's a little behind where we've seen in past years, especially considering the Buckeyes are coming off a College Football Playoff national championship. And while many programs would love to have the class Ohio State has, there have been some pretty big misses as the program tries to figure out how name, image and likeness, and the House Settlement leading to direct revenue payments will work. The perception is that the Buckeyes have been conservative compared to other teams, and that has seemingly led to some misses on the high-priority targets. But there's another big one in play coming up with five-star running back Savion Hiter, who just announced his commitment date. According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Hiter is ranked as the No. 1 running back and ninth overall prospect in the class. He will be making his college choice on August 19, according to an announcement on "X," and he'll be choosing among a final four of Ohio State, Georgia, Michigan, and Tennessee. To be fair, OSU doesn't seem to have the momentum in this race -- though that hasn't seemed to matter this year. Despite being on campus multiple times, the buzz is that it'll come down to Michigan and Tennessee, both of whom have been much more aggressive with NIL money than Ohio State has been. To date, the Buckeyes have just one running back commitment in the class of 2026, three-star Ohio product Favour Akih. It's beginning to look like he'll be the lone back in this class unless there's a surprise with Hiter, or OSU pivots and tries to find a diamond in the rough to round out the class. Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House attorneys, power conferences work out deal to relax NIL collective roadblocks: Sources
LAS VEGAS — Less than a month into the implementation of the House settlement, college sports' new enforcement entity is adjusting its approach. Attorneys for the House plaintiffs have struck an agreement with the power conferences and NCAA officials to amend the decision-making from the industry's new enforcement arm, the College Sports Commission, related to how booster-backed collectives can compensate athletes. Multiple sources spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity. As part of the agreement, the College Sports Commission is expected to treat collectives or any 'school-associated entity' in a similar fashion as other businesses when determining the legitimacy of third-party NIL deals submitted to the CSC's NIL Go clearinghouse. This is a change from the CSC's previously publicized approach. According to a memo sent to schools two weeks ago, the CSC — created and administered by the power conferences — explained that it has denied dozens of athlete deals from collectives because it is holding collectives to a higher threshold, announcing that businesses whose sole existence is to pay athletes (i.e. collectives) cannot meet the definition of a 'valid business purpose.' House plaintiff attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and Steve Berman took issue with that interpretation, sending to the NCAA and power league officials a letter demanding the guidance be retracted and suggesting those rejected deals be reinstated. Kessler, in his letter, threatened to take the issue to the magistrate judge, Nathaniel Cousins, who is presiding over House settlement disputes. Some of the NIL deals that the CSC rejected while applying the previous guidance will be re-evaluated based on the new approach. The interpretation of the 'valid business purpose' rule is not insignificant. It is one of two measurements used by the new CSC's NIL Go clearinghouse to determine the legitimacy of third-party deals. The second is a Deloitte-created 'compensation range' standard that deals must fall within. The change to the valid business purpose standard potentially opens the door for the continuation of school-affiliated, booster-backed collectives to provide athletes with compensation that, if approved by the clearinghouse, does not count against a school's House settlement revenue-share cap. This provides collectives a path to strike deals with athletes as long as those transactions deliver to the public goods and services for a profit for the organization, such as holding athlete merchandise sales, autograph signings and athlete appearances at, for example, golf tournaments. The resolution creates what administrators term more of a 'soft cap' as opposed to a hard cap, as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey described it last week in an interview with Yahoo Sports. The expectation is that collectives will create legal ways to provide additional compensation, as Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti described Monday in an interview with Yahoo Sports from Big Ten media days. 'When something works, it gets copied,' he said. 'Things happening out there to provide additional NIL deals for student athletes that make sense and are allowed under rules, you're going to see more versions of that.' The change also, at least for now, prevents a legal challenge from leaders of a group of NIL collectives who began drafting a lawsuit against the CSC's approach. Over the last four years, collectives have served as the driving force for schools to compensate athletes, raising millions in booster money to provide schools a way to recruit and retain players. However, the CSC's original interpretation of the 'valid business purpose' definition, and resulting denials of collective deals, speaks to one of administrators' goals of the settlement — to shift athlete pay from these booster-run organizations to the schools, which are now permitted to directly share revenue with athletes under the capped system that began July 1. That said, many schools are still operating their collectives as a way to, perhaps, circumvent the system. For example, schools continue to operate their collectives — some out of fear that others are doing the same and some believing that the settlement will fail under the weight of legal challenges. 'We know that some people are saying, 'We're not worried because we don't think they can really enforce it!'' Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin told Yahoo Sports last week from SEC media days. 'They don't think NIL contracts are going to get kicked back (by the clearinghouse) or they think they're not going to be able to win long-term (legal challenges) because of players rights.' Ultimately, Sankey suggested, schools hold authority to control their own affiliated collectives. 'For how long have people been begging for guardrails?' Sankey asked. 'Well, now we have guardrails. Those broadly across the country that claim they wanted guardrails need to operate within the guardrails. If you allow what's happened to continue to escalate, there would be a very small number of programs that would be competitive with each other and we'd not have a national sport or a national championship.' The resolution may not completely end what will likely be continuous negotiations over particular enforcement rules between the power leagues controlling the CSC and the House plaintiff attorneys, who hold authority and veto powers over various aspects of the settlement. Petitti cautioned Tuesday that more such negotiations are expected in the future. 'I don't think it will be the last time that an issue comes up in the process,' he said. 'The settlement approval came later than expected. It compressed the time period.' The guidance change may also not prevent future legal challenges over other enforcement aspects, including Deloitte's compensation range concept or the appeals arbitration system that athletes can use for deals denied a second time. The CSC, in its first month of existence, is reliant on athletes submitting deals. Athletes are required to submit any third-party deal of $600 or more to an NIL clearinghouse, NIL Go. Those deals flagged by NIL Go are sent to the CSC and its new leader, Bryan Seeley, to determine an enforcement decision. As of two weeks ago, more than 100 deals were denied and at least 100 more were under review. More than 1,500 deals had been approved.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Every Division I School's Revenue-Sharing Decision for 2025-26
The House settlement approved in June will transform college sports immediately. Starting in 2025-26, schools will be permitted to directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million annually in revenue-sharing. Not all schools, however, are jumping into the new landscape. On Tuesday, the College Sports Commission released a list of schools that opted in to sharing revenue with athletes. Division I schools had to decide by June 30, and although 310 athletic departments opted in, 54 chose not to. More from Ex-Penn State Trustee, Who Sued to See Elevate Deal, Still Has 'Concerns' NCAA Scores Major Antitrust Win as Eligibility Rules Upheld Fanatics Accused of Conspiring With Leagues, Unions on High Card Prices To no surprise, all schools in power conferences—the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC—are participating. Other leagues with complete participation: the American, Atlantic 10, Big East, C-USA, CAA, Horizon, MAC, Missouri Valley, Southwestern, Sun Belt, WAC and West Coast conferences. Every FBS school opted in aside from the service academies—Army, Navy and Air Force—which are prevented from compensating athletes due to military regulations. On the other end of the spectrum, the Ivy League, which currently permits athletes to receive NIL deals but not athletic scholarships, stated in January that its eight schools would not participate in revenue-sharing. The Patriot League was the only other conference with zero members opting in. Several recent March Madness Cinderellas opted out, including UMBC and Fairleigh Dickinson, the only two men's No. 16 seeds to ever defeat a No. 1 seed; they accomplished the feat in 2018 and 2023, respectively. Saint Peter's, which made an unprecedented run to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed in 2022, was also among the opt-outs. Some schools zigged where their peers zagged, such as Long Island University, which was the only Northeast Conference program to opt in. On the flip side, North Carolina Central was the only MEAC team to opt out. The University of Nebraska Omaha was the only member of the Summit League to not participate. In an online statement, the school explained that its operational and financial plans were already in place for the 2025-26, so opting into revenue-sharing 'would simply introduce new and unresolved variables at a time when clarity is critical.' The athletic department plans to opt in some time in the future. In addition to the direct financial cost of sharing revenue with athletes, another concern for participating schools is adhering to certain roster size limitations. Football teams, for instance, are capped at 105 players. University of Central Arkansas athletic director Matt Whiting said in an interview on Wednesday that potential loss of tuition money influenced the school's decision to opt out. 'Opting in would require us to reduce by a significant amount [the number] of student-athletes in our program,' Whiting said. 'That's obviously lost revenue for the university during a time where enrollment across the country is declining.' With a full-time undergraduate enrollment of 6,474, Central Arkansas is actually bigger than the majority of schools forgoing revenue-sharing. The average non-FBS opt-out has just shy of 6,000 students, whereas the average FCS or non-football D-I school that opted in has more than 7,800. Six of the 10 D-I schools with the smallest student populations chose to opt out, including Presbyterian College and Chicago State University, which had just 856 and 981 full-time undergrads last year, respectively, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. Another factor: Revenue-sharing will likely face Title IX lawsuits, given that participating schools are expected to share much more revenue with male athletes than female athletes. Schools declining to opt in avoid having to address these legal concerns. Still, most D-I schools decided that the pros outweigh the cons. Florida Gulf Coast's athletic director, for instance, cited the fact that it would lose only nine roster spots but gain flexibility for the program and opportunities for athletes. Nine Division III schools that participate in Division I in one or two sports also opted in. Johns Hopkins, which has 29 Final Four appearances in D-I men's lacrosse since 1970, will participate, along with Dallas Baptist (baseball) and Augusta (golf). The other six programs all boast D-I men's ice hockey teams: Minnesota State, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, and Colorado College. Best of Tennis Prize Money Tracker: Which Player Has Earned the Most in 2025? Browns Officially Get Public Money for New Stadium in Ohio Budget WNBA Franchise Valuations Ranking List: From Golden State to Atlanta
American Press
17-07-2025
- Business
- American Press
Jim Gazzolo: A break from musical conferences
McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. (American Press Archives) Texas State's surprising jump from the Sun Belt Conference to the Pac-12 won't lead to a flood of changes this summer in the college sports landscape. At best, it was a trickle with Louisiana Tech following this week, leaving Conference USA for the Mean Green's spot in the Sun Belt. No other major moves are expected this offseason, though stranger things have happened. Both the Sun Belt and C-USA say they are good for now. This summer's moves won't take effect until the 2026 fall season. By then, schools and leagues will have a better understanding of what the future holds. They will at least have some financial numbers to base any decisions on moving forward. C-USA is at 10, with the Sun Belt holding at 16 after this round is complete. Schools don't seem willing to share the revenue pie with more schools. Even the Southland Conference has said it is not looking to expand at present. There were schools interested in joining the SLC, but when you are a one-bid league, it makes no sense to further dilute that NCAA money. With all the movement that has transpired over the last few years, this summer has been relatively calm. Consider it the calm before the storm. One is led to believe that next summer could resemble the Wild West when it comes to league expansions, realignments and mergers. In other words, talk of McNeese State moving up and out of the Southland is, well, premature at best. 'We are not in any talks with anybody at this time,' said McNeese Athletic Director Heath Schroyer. 'We continue to work to put ourselves in the best position to do what is in the best interest of our school, department, and student-athletes as we move forward. 'We still have work to do.' Schroyer might not be in active talks with anyone, but you have to think he has a few league commissioners on speed dial. Along with others, Schroyer said he believes that most parties will play the waiting game this year. With all the new questions surrounding name, image and likeness deals, and the recent House Settlement, it may be best for most programs to see how the first year unfolds. There are still questions about the future of Title IX and the potential for new lawsuits that could impact the finances of schools. Additionally, there is the elephant in the room, as the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten continue to discuss leaving the NCAA when it comes to football. This time next year, many things could look different, and that could lead to moves all over the place. That is the moment McNeese could be on the move. Of course, Schroyer is right, the program still has a lot of work to do. However, it is off to a good start. Already this summer, McNeese says ticket sales are up almost 70 percent, which is a good sign. The football team is coming off its best season since 2019 — 6-6 — and has new facilities to boot. A new press box is scheduled to open this fall, providing the program with a visual boost and featuring 26 luxury suites. All 23 up for sale have been sold, Schroyer said. Stadium naming rights should be completed sooner rather than later, which will boost revenue. More naming rights to facilities may also be on the way. None of that means the Cowboys will get an invitation when the next round of realignment comes, but all of it helps. While fans debate what is in the best interest of the program, with more than a few wanting to stay in the Southland and on the Football Championship Subdivision level, money will determine McNeese's fate. If the Cowboys make sense for a conference like C-USA to invite, then it will. And if it makes financial sense for McNeese to move up, then it should. The important thing right now is to ensure McNeese is part of the conversations when conference leaders debate their futures. a Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@
