Report: NCAA compliance official suggests athletes with NIL collective deals could be forced to cooperate

The conversation surrounding Name, Image and Likeness in college athletics has been a prominent topics over recent days, weeks, and months. After reports surfaced that the NCAA is pushing for new NIL guidelines on Thursday, another report surfaced on Friday that athletes with offers from NIL collectives might be forced to sit down with officials.

Schools are not allowed to contact players before they officially hit the transfer portal, nor are boosters from universities. Lining up NIL collective deals prior to a player signing with that school would also be a violation.

For the players that have received some of those NIL offers prior to signing with a school, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde said they will now have to “spill the beans” with a mandate for cooperation in the investigation.

“The student athletes that were getting these alleged offers from these collectives will probably be getting phone calls from enforcement to have a sit down,” the individual told Forde. “Their eligibility wouldn’t be impacted but they’ll be asked to spill the beans and would be mandated to cooperate.”

The NCAA is limited when it comes to enforcement capabilities in this situation regarding NIL investigations. Recently, Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey met with United States Senators to discuss NIL legislation. A key takeaway from that meeting was that Congress needs to adopt a law that gives athletes more NIL protection and rights.

Ultimately, the NCAA could run into trouble when it comes to mandating student athletes to talk to them regarding their offers within NIL collectives.

“All bark and no bite,” a former NCAA enforcement officer told On3. “No way they can compel any of these kids to talk to them.”

The latest report is the latest in a long line of issues for the NCAA surrounding NIL

Last week, an accusation of tampering came in involving Pittsburgh wide receiver Jordan Addison. Prior to him entering the portal, there was speculation about a potential NIL deal already in place if he decides to go to USC. Earlier in the offseason, an unnamed five-star recruit reportedly had an $8 million NIL deal waiting for them, but it was before any commitment was made.

While athletes being able to profit off of their NIL is something that most are in favor of, the obvious and clear problems in the current system is something that many are looking to fix. Colorado athletic director Rick George is among the leaders in college athletics that is seeking a resolution and a way to clean up the direction where things are currently heading.

“Just because we have NIL, it doesn’t eliminate the rules,” George said, via Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger. “Everybody is like ‘It’s NIL!’ I am totally in favor of NIL done right. It’s really good. [Athletes] should be able to monetize their NIL, but a lot of what’s going on out there is not NIL.”

In the possible new guidelines, George said that it would clearly be stated that boosters “cannot communicate with a student-athlete or others affiliated with a student-athlete to encourage them to remain enrolled or attend an institution.”