NIL and CFB Recruiting, Heading for a Collision with NCAA Violations and the Court of Law - Part II

In Part II, the NCAA Infractions Committee, Title IX lawyers, and state legislators are connected to NIL and recruiting.

Author:
Brian Smith
Publish date:
Dec 17, 2021 9:08 AM EST

In continuing with the debate about NIL and recruiting, here’s an overview of issues that will come into play for different entities such as the NCAA and its Infractions Committee, the players involved in recruitments, as well as anyone else that’s connected to NIL and student athletes.

You can read Part I here:

NIL and CFB Recruiting, Heading for a Collision with NCAA Violations and the Court of Law - Part I

The following should be regarded as messy and unfortunate, but everyone that follows NCAA Football better be ready, because multiple scenarios that will turn out ugly are about to come to the forefront of the sport.

NCAA Infractions Committee Failed to Get Ahead of the Issue

Why in the world did the NCAA Infractions Committee not publicly and blatantly warn the schools recruiting top athletes to be very careful with this situation of NIL? Once again, “publicly” making that clear is very important. Do not expect that to happen, however.

That was a huge mistake by the NCAA, and now they are going to pay for it. In fact, there's already been issues with possible NIL deals, as the NCAA is looking into two schools now, Miami and BYU. More are likely to follow. Here's some information about BYU:

For them to suddenly hammer on BYU or Miami is kind of funny, but expected.

The NCAA has often sat back and simply said nothing or placed ridiculous comments onto its website about a situation, acting as if the people in America are completely naive.

It did not work then, nor shall it work now. There’s also a reason the NCAA acts in this manner.

Because that same group of people working for the NCAA actually in fact work for those same institutions that it governs. Talk about the fox in charge of watching the chicken coop.

Spineless as the NCAA and its Infractions Committee has been during many moments of its existence, if there is not a definitive shot across the bow by the NCAA Infractions Committee with at least a few schools (Hunter’s situation is but one of numerous, but the most well known), imagine what next year will be like with college programs having new and improved ways to try and hide how and when recruits gain knowledge of a NIL deal.

Then again, maybe the NCAA just pronounces pre-National Signing Day NIL deals as legal?

That would also cause an issue with the following, and how this article and its theme goes into a total “who knows?” mode.

How Lawyers Will be Involved

Completely understanding Title IX law is complex and difficult; that does not mean it’s going away.

In short, if any person protected by Title IX lawmakers feels they deserve some of the money that a recruit and/or a recruit’s guardian, parent or other similar entity received from an NIL deal should be awarded to them, that’s when the court cases begin to pile up.

While it may sound ridiculous to some, this is not a new situation and Title IX is a very serious situation indeed.

It can even be an in-house situation, i.e. a women’s sports team suing athletes and/or the actual athletic department that it resides under.

Do not laugh. It’s going to happen. The term equal opportunity is coming into view with NIL deals being struck. Here’s an example.

A school’s football program signs a great player like Travis Hunter. It then makes 50 million dollars with that player. Even if the NIL deal was completely above board and legit, that does not mean athletes and/or coaches under Title IX protection cannot sue to get some of that money.

Just remember that. Those conversations may or may not hit the public at everyone’s local university or college, but they are going to happen at many places and happen many times.

State Laws Will Vary, NCAA in a Tough Situation

The NCAA fails quite often, but for once it will be in a tough spot to no fault of its own. Each state is going to do something different with NIL laws. So how in the world does it govern then? Take a look.

There are two primary ways that this situation can go. First, there are the efforts that are going on in Florida where lawmakers are attempting to make it easier for its institutions to utilize NIL. Other states are sure to follow Florida’s lead.

Here’s a great article chronicling that situation as it develops by Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger:

New Florida Bill Would Allow Schools to Facilitate NIL Deals

For Florida’s situation, one needs to literally read the entirety of the bill (yes, all of it) to know the details. If it does not pass, it’s moot.

If that bill does pass, and becomes Florida law, then it’s time to read the boring but necessary paperwork. The reason? NCAA violations, as one should expect, would be the starting point.

How that bill is worded is the bottom line. That’s why every word must be scrutinized.

Just because a state representative that’s a Florida State fan wants to help the in-state programs does not mean it’s completely above board with current NCAA recruiting mandates and guidelines. To that point, there will likely still be laws causing people to think twice about cheating, and it shall go beyond the grasp of the powers of those that govern inside the walls of the NCAA (fines, etc.).

Here’s the second and additional quandary. How in the world does the NCAA and 50 different states come up with just one unilateral bill that everyone agrees on? Even coming up with all the states being close to the same viewpoint is likely unrealistic.

Even if the Florida law is above board, as an example, that still leads to an unbalanced level of advantages and disadvantages for other states. Attempting to keep a so-called level playing field in recruiting was hard enough with all the massive cheating in NCAA Football. NIL creates another chasm to explore.

NIL, albeit by accident, is going to vary state by state and cause the NCAA an enormous amount of issues moving forward (say hello to the Title IX lawyers again).

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