Clemson Tigers Boss Reveals Huge Scholarship Jump, Thanks to Revenue Sharing

During a wide-ranging interview, Clemson Tigers athletic director Graham Neff talked about revenue sharing, scholarships and roster limits.

Graham Neff, Clemson University Tigers Athletic Director, gives a State of Clemson Athletics speech in the Smart Family Media Center in Clemson, S.C. Wednesday, August 21, 2024. | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

For much of the last year, Clemson Tigers athletic director Graham Neff has been in planning mode.

For much of the last few weeks, executing that plan has required patience.

The House vs. NCAA settlement hasn’t been approved yet. The landmark case, which is a combination of three lawsuits filed against the NCAA, will eventually allow the Tigers to share revenue with its student-athletes in the form of full scholarships.

The holdup is that the judge, Claudia Wilken, wants the NCAA and the power conferences, which negotiated the deal, to grandfather in current student-athletes so their athletic careers aren’t damaged by the roster limits that are to be implemented as part of the settlement.

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney has been critical of the roster limits, indicating that he’s not happy about losing the walk-ons that he takes in each season.

Neff told reporters on Friday, including from The State, that “confidence remains high” that the settlement will eventually be approved so it can be implemented by July 1.

He also said the school remains committed to sharing at the full amount allowed by the settlement, which is expected to be $20.5 million for the 2025-26 athletic year, a cap that will go up each season.

He also revealed what that means from a scholarship standpoint.

Neff said that the Tigers currently offer 275 scholarships for all of their NCAA sports. Many of those scholarships are partial, especially for Olympic sports like baseball.

With the revenue-sharing — which will also lead to full scholarships for all sports — 425 Tigers athletes will get scholarships next season.

But there is still a disparity that Neff outlined. Right now, Clemson has 590 total athletes. Even with grandfathering in current athletes, cuts will still need to be made eventually.

Neff just isn’t sure how much that number will decrease the first year, assuming the agreement is approved.

But all revenue sharing won’t be equal, either.

Jon Blau of the Courier-Journal reported that Neff said that how much money is shared with each sport will be determined by how much revenue is brought in by each sport.

Most schools are devoting 75% for football, 15% for men’s basketball, 5% for women’s basketball and then 5% for the rest.

Blau reported that because Clemson football brings in at least 80%, their revenue share could be higher in the model that Neff outlined.