From OC Register.
By Charles Odum
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Ga. — NIL
money has added a new variable to the long-held
practice of college coaches trying to flip recruits who have given verbal commitments to other schools.
The NCAA rules providing college athletes the abilityity to earn revenue from their name, image and likeness provide new artillery for recruiting wars.
When the recruiting spotlight is on a top recruit, millions of dollars are on the line.
Some coaches worry about the potential abuse of NIL when recruiting high school athletes and also
when trying to lure players from other schools through the transfer portal.
“I mean, that’s just part of, again, a truly flawed system,” Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin said Wednesday. “They’re not just tampering but they go and offer money and numbers. So you got young kids go, ‘Wait. I can go make that much money somewhere else if I go in the portal and leave?’ ”
Florida coach Billy Napier said NIL is “a part of
an evolution of our game.” “We continue to generate a lot of revenue,” Napier said Wednesday. “So it is becoming business-like. This is the first job for a lot of these players in terms of their career. So I think for me, it’s just, you know, we have to adapt and evolve.” One of the most closely watched recruits is quarterback Bryce Underwood.
He is rated by 247Sports Composite as the nation’s
No. 1 recruit. Underwood, from Belleville (Michigan) High School, committed to Louisiana State early this year and returned to Baton
Rouge on Saturday night to watch Alabama beat LSU
42-13.
Underwood and his family wore LSU jewelry and gear as they attended the game. The quarterback has given no indication he will change his plans to sign with LSU, but there is much speculation Michigan could use NIL money in its attempts to keep Underwood in state. With a player as highly regarded as Underwood the focus of recruiting efforts, the NIL offers could reach $5 million to $10 million. That is the current price for top-rated quarterbacks.
Tennessee freshman Nico Iamaleava landed an $8
million NIL deal from Spyre Sports before the quarterback signed with the Vols.
LSU coach Brian Kelly said “without question” NIL
has increased the intensity of high school recruiting.