Greg Sankey evaluates what can be done to help fix NIL, tampering

NIL is in need of some fine-tuning, according to SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. He recently discussed how to fix the complex system with so much potential.

“What you’ve identified is really a layering of issues. So, it’s not as if we’re dealing with like one problem right here. We’re dealing with a range of realities,” Sankey said on an episode of the “The Joel Klatt Show” earlier this week.

In Sankey’s view, the issue can’t be covered by simply pointing at the NIL or the transfer portal. Instead, many of the issues lie within those hoping to abuse the system to benefit their programs.

Those issues include methods being employed by some to gain any advantage they can find, methods such as tampering. Tampering is when a program makes contact with an athlete from another school, directly or indirectly, without first obtaining authorization through the notification of the transfer authority.

Tampering can come from anywhere, coaches, players, agents or even parents. This sometimes messy underbelly of NIL makes it extremely difficult to track and, thus, even more difficult to stop. The extended time frame of the portal isn’t making Sankey’s job any easier.

Currently, there is a 45-day winter transfer window just after the regular season concludes and a 15-day window near the end of spring practice. Sankey intends to tighten these constraints and, consequently, squeeze out the window for malpractice.

“I think we shorten that 45 days. Not everyone will like that. But what you saw was, when the portal opened,” Sankey said, “the first week or two, it’s the exact behavior anticipated. A bunch of people who said, ‘I either don’t want to be here, I want more playing time, I didn’t make the right choice, I want to be closer to home’ — whatever it is, raise their hand on the portal and said it’s time to leave.

“After that two weeks, a lot of stories — anecdotal, admittedly — where you have influencers, if you will, third parties, agents, people that we don’t know saying, ‘Hey, I got a deal for you if you leave.’ That’s not name, image and likeness. That’s not. Some have described as bribery. Some have it described as inducement. That’s not what it’s supposed to be. And so, I would suggest that one step is let’s shorten the December portal and allow those decisions to be made for entry over a two-week period of time. And then, they’ll play out.”