FROM THE BLEACHERS-514
BY DR. JACK WELCH
Will the NIL influence college recruiting?
The NCAA is allowing student-athletes to profit off endorsements. College players can now receive financial benefits from the use of their name, image, and likeness. The NCAA calls this the NIL. Will this be a way recruiters lure high school players to their college in the future?
Although a high school player cannot receive money for their name, likeness, and image; if the player graduates early and enrolls in college, then as college students they become eligible for the NLI.
Over the history of college athletics, there have been problems with alumni and boosters giving money and benefits to players. It caused SMU to receive the death penalty. It took decades for SMU to recover.
The 2021 top-ranked high school player, Southlake (TX) Carroll High School quarterback Quinn Ewers, decided to skip his senior year of high school and enroll at Ohio State. Ewers helped lead the Dragons to a state runner-up finish in 6A Div. I last season. Why did he do this?
This enables Ewers to profit off his Name, Likeness, and Image. Texas law currently prevents high school student-athletes from making money in endorsements. It is reported Ewers has received a six-figure offer.
Ewers is the first player to make such a move and college football analysts are wondering if this could be the start of a trend.
I believe it will certainly start a trend. What will stop a booster, operating a large business, from offering a high school senior player a contract to use their name if they enroll in a specific university?
These boosters can make offers without being attached to certain universities but without a doubt this could become an enticement for large universities, having relationships with large companies.
Will this cause a new way for boosters and alumni to get involved in the recruiting process?
This new NCAA policy went into effect in July of 2021. The new policy has shaken up the world of college sports. Can anyone blame Ewers for skipping his senior season to take a sports endorsement deal?
Yahoo Sports reported Ewers could make as much as $1 million. This is before he even plays a game for Ohio State. Ewers said he would have preferred to stay at Carroll H.S. and play his senior season but said the current ban on high school players receiving endorsements led him to leave early.
Thought for the week, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” Albert Einstein
Dr. Jack Welch is a college football coach. He holds a Doctor of Education degree, has been a college and high school football coach for 40 years and is the author of Foundations of Coaching. He can be reached at [email protected].
