🏅 Dan Hurley: "NIL lets me coach harder"

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Hey there,

The sports world is still winding down from the greatest month in college sports; all the while, NIL news is bursting at the seams. The IRS is mad (shocker), Minnesota ran an NIL autopsy that produced some pretty shocking results, and NIL may be slowly destroying the One-and-Done era in college hoops. It’s all coming up right now.

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KICK-OFF

NIL Lets Dan Hurley Coach His Players Harder

Dan Hurley hasn’t just embraced the NIL system – it’s allowed him to coach his players harder. Now that his players can make money, he demands more of his players across the board.   

“The last two years since NIL started, I’ve coached my teams harder than I’ve coached any teams just because of everything that these guys now have at their disposal,” Hurley said. The resources the University of Connecticut and its programs now invest in these players are not for their attendance. It’s not just to be on campus. It’s to produce and to produce winning.”

Hurley also explained how professionalized college sports have become: “The way we travel, you know, the residence, the full-service dining we have in our 40 million plus practice facility, the NIL opportunities.” (More)

NCAA Prez Wants “Consumer Protection Package”

Charlie Baker spoke earlier this week about ways to establish some rules around NIL, emphasizing business protections for student-athletes trying to use NIL. He’s calling what the NCAA’s been working on a “consumer protection package.”

The “package” includes a few elements: First, he wants to establish ways to legitimately vet businesses so that athletes don’t get scammed. That could involve creating a “Yelp or a Trip Advisor” type program to hold companies accountable via reviews.

“I think it's unfortunate that for the most part that whole space is kind of anonymous,” Baker said when speaking about the need for NIL business protections, “I think that puts, again, kids and families in a tough spot.” (More)

Minnesota’s NIL Autopsy

Details on the University of Minnesota’s NIL reporting were just released, and the results might surprise you. The obvious findings are that football remains the most lucrative NIL sport by a landslide, and social media is the most common way for players to score brand partnerships. No news there. 

Now, the more surprising findings: Women at the school have scored more NIL deals than men since August of 2022 – 165, to be exact, comprising 61% of all deals.

That may have something to do with the fact that the following five lucrative sports at the school are primarily women’s sports: softball, women’s ice hockey, women’s basketball, soccer, and gymnastics comprise the 2-6 slots on the list, with men’s basketball sitting 13^th on the list with only six total NIL contracts. (More)

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WHAT’S TRENDING

Ups and Downs

• The women’s March Madness final drew four million more viewers than the men’s final this year, the first time that’s ever happened. 📈

• Nebraska’s NIL Collective is holding a massive fundraiser as they continue establishing themselves as an elite NIL program. 📈

• Zach Edey, a Canadian, hopes international student-athletes can earn NIL money in the future. “I obviously have lost out on a lot of money this year.” 📉

DOWN TO BUSINESS

IRS Updates Collectives on Non-Profit Status

The IRS isn’t exactly thrilled with how many NIL collectives attempt to receive tax-exempt status. According to a recently obtained document, which denied a collective tax-exempt status in January, the IRS seems to be losing patience with collectives framing themselves as non-profits. 

“This seems to be an indictment against [the tax-exempt status of] all the collectives,” said former IRS lawyer Phil Hackney, “And should mean the other collectives lose their status as well… If you got status, it just means you got it through an overwhelmed process.”

Last year, the IRS sent a memo that effectively quelled many schools’ tax-exempt goals, such as Texas A&M’s 12^th Man+ Fund. It’s worth noting, however, that the IRS’ Deputy Associate Chief Counsel recently stated that collective nonprofit status wasn’t exactly a high priority for the agency at the moment. (More)

• On3 just announced they’re launching a Social App for student-athletes. Athletes who opt into “Elite” status will receive exclusive NIL opportunities, among other perks.

• ZIYNX, an NIL service provider that takes a “boutique” approach to NIL, just opened up their NIL internship program for the summer. The program will help athletes hone in on their content and provide financial advisor assistance.

COLLECTIVE 101

Collectives Shifting Focus to Portal

The age of the one-and-done freshman may be dwindling, and it’s all thanks to NIL. When the policy was first introduced, many assumed the most significant programs would price out other schools when getting top-tier recruits coming from high school. Of course, that’s happened to a large extent… but the real advantage may be coming in the transfer portal.

Spending money in the portal provides one thing freshman recruits can’t offer: experience. Getting a sure-fire good player in the transfer portal allows coaches to simply coach the team instead of trying to bring a young player along. Getting a 22-year-old is much different than getting an 18-year-old. (More)

• Speaking of the portal, John Calipari will reportedly have more than $5M per year to play with at Arkansas. It’s yet to be seen if he’ll continue recruiting freshmen hard or lean into utilizing the portal.

• Penn State NIL Boosters can now have breakfast with James Franklin for some tiny pocket change – $5K, to be exact.

ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT

Jess Gardner

Meet Jess Gardner, a Nebraska track and field athlete who has pushed past the boundaries of her sport to become a social media presence. With 132K followers on Instagram and 218K on TikTok, Jess has used her platform to showcase her personality and land NIL deals through the marketplace Opendorse. 

Companies like Nerf, Metaquest, the American Cancer Society, and Adidas have recognized the power of Jess's following, tapping into her influence to promote their brands. 

NIL BLITZ

♦️ NCAA could OK new transfer rules at next meeting

♦️ Dabo says NIL is for ‘retention’ not ‘recruiting’

♦️ Digging Deep on the NCAA’s potential NIL Tournament Problem

♦️ Anthony Edwards gifted the NC State squads shoes before the Final Four

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BATTER UP

Today’s Poll Question:

Last Edition’s Poll Results:

Which women's college basketball run was more impressive?

• South Carolina’s undefeated team season - 43%

• Caitlin Clark’s record-breaking individual season - 57%