UNLV Rebels Director Of Athletics Erick Harper On NIL Deals: “How much is too much?”

UNLV Rebels director of athletics Erick Harper has done an unbelievable job heading the school's athletic department. He has landed big-time coaches for their three top teams, hiring Dan Mullen, Josh Pastner, and extending Lindy La Rocque. Harper has almost all their teams heading in the right direction. However, his most impressive feat may be how he has adjusted to the changing landscape of college sports and navigated both the transfer portal and NIL deals. He discussed these topics with the UNLV official website.

UNLV Rebels Director Of Athletics Erick Harper On His Feelings On The Changing Landscape Of College Sports And NIL Deals

"By all means, they deserve to get something — especially those who are involved in sports that generate revenue through television deals," Harper said. "Have I arrived at a specific number yet? No, I haven’t.

There’s also the old-school part of me that still says, “What about your scholarship — doesn’t that count [as payment]?”

Also, if they weren’t on scholarship at UNLV, would they be on scholarship somewhere else — in other words, were we the only offer they had? And if we didn’t offer that scholarship, would they have gone to college? Where would they be four, five years after high school? Would they be on a path to a well-paying job and a successful career?

So the old-school in me wonders, “How much is too much?”

At the same time, if we’re going to pay our student-athletes, we have a very, very strong responsibility to teach them financial literacy. Because you can’t just give an 18- or 20-year-old, say, $100,000 and expect them to know how to manage it. The reality is most don’t understand that taxes come out and that an agent is going to take a cut. So that $100,000 dwindles quickly.

Another thing that isn’t often talked about: What happens when a student-athlete doesn’t make it professionally in their respective sport, and it’s time to go out and get a real job and the take-home income is far lower than when they were in college as a student-athlete?

I’ve already heard stories about former college athletes saying, “I can’t take that job — I’m not used to only making $60,000 a year.” But you just graduated. And the job market and your experience does not warrant six figures.

These are some of the realities that this generation of student-athletes are going to have to understand."

Harper On The Transfer Portal

"I wouldn’t say it’s simple, but coaches who build strong relationships with their players and treat them with respect have the best chance to convince those players to play, not for the dollar, but for their coach, their teammate, their institution.

Of course, there are going to be some student-athletes whose socioeconomic platform is tenuous, so they have to chase the dollar. Heck, there are many that chase the dollar and make mistakes by doing so.

Now, if a player is leaving because they’re third on the depth chart and it looks like they’re never going to get meaningful playing time, that’s understandable. But these days, it’s more important than ever for coaches to build those solid relationships with their players if they want to hang onto them."

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