Despite focus on football, NIL pay-for-play concerns impacting basketball

The NIL’s impact on college football and the recruiting trail has become a lightning rod topic. Coaches, such as Penn State’s James Franklin, say the perfect recruiting pitch can be beaten by NIL. Furthermore, the NCAA says there have been numerous reports of collectives getting involved in pay-for-play deals with recruits.

Things have gotten so out of whack, the NCAA released guidance attempting to nix play-for-play deals. Plus, 90% of FBS athletic directors polled were concerned NIL was being used as an improver recruiting tool.

While much of the attention has been focused on football, basketball insiders say NIL is also reshaping hoops recruiting.

“I don’t know what the football side has been as far as agents, advisors and attorneys,” a veteran basketball coach with more than a decade of experience told On3. “But we’re definitely seeing it on this side. I can’t think of a recruit we’ve targeted over the past six months that hasn’t made NIL part of the decision-making process.

“We try to avoid talking about specific numbers because we’ve been told ad nauseam not to. But some of them just throw it out or they’ll say it without saying it if that makes sense. It’s just a common part of the recruiting process now, I guess.”

Collectives have ‘massive impact’ on basketball recruiting

On3 expert Joe Tipton said NIL and collectives – groups of boosters that pool funds from a wide swath of donors and businesses to create NIL activities for a school’s student-athletes – have had a “massive impact on college basketball recruiting.”

“You can easily make the argument that some players are now choosing a school based on potential earnings, rather than actual fit,” Tipton said.

“Several college coaches have told me they cannot even get a player on the phone unless the letters ‘NIL’ are mentioned. Quite often the first question that is asked is ‘What’s the NIL look like here’ rather than discussions of playing time, style of play, etc.”

Recruits and their families aren’t shy about admitting that NIL will influence their decision. A family member of a star 2024 prospect told On3 that NIL will be the “No. 1 factor” in their son’s decision. A five-star 2023 prospect also told On3 that NIL matters.

“I will be looking closely at where I fit,” the recruit that ranks in the top 10 in the On3 Consensus. “The school stuff will be big for me, setting me up educationally. And NIL will play a big role, too.”

NIL means ‘now it’s legal’

Basketball has always been somewhat murky when it comes to questionable recruiting tactics. Some programs have turned a blind eye to NCAA rules to help secure the next one-and-one player. Simply put, one five-star recruit can mean a Final Four appearance or even a national championship.

We saw evidence of this with the Department of Justice’s investigation that resulted in four people being sentenced to prison. U.S. Attorneys said basketball recruiters created a “pay-for-play culture” with brides to attend Nike- and Adidas-sponsored schools.

Fast forward four years, and basketball insiders say NIL essentially means “now it’s legal.”

“We’re living in an all-out bidding war culture, especially when it comes to transfers,” another veteran basketball coach told On3. “NIL really means now it’s legal. I’m serious about that. What got people put in prison a few years ago is in a way now perfectly legal.”

‘Lots of rule-breaking going on’

It’s not just coaches and recruiting followers noticing this. NIL observers are talking openly about how the basketball recruiting trail has been transformed by questionable tactics from collectives.

“Had a conversation about high-level college basketball recruiting with one of my grassroots basketball friends this weekend,” Mit Winter, a sports attorney at Kansas City-based Kennyhertz Perry LLC, tweeted. “He said the No. 1 topic of conversation is NIL. He said most schools are leading with how they can help players maximize NIL returns.

“Some of the activity is definitely crossing over into inducement territory, which everyone already knew. But schools that don’t put resources into in-house NIL programs and relationships with collectives are going to be at a disadvantage in recruiting.”

Darren Heitner, a lawyer with Heitner Legal and a NIL advocate who helped craft Florida’s law, replied to Winter saying he had heard similar things.

“The first-hand accounts that I keep hearing about inducements,” Heitner said. “Some schools should be concerned unless they are ready to break away from the NCAA.”

Winter then went on to agree with Heitner’s statement.

“Lots of rule-breaking going on,” Winter said. “I doubt most schools or ADs know what coaches are doing during these conversations. But they should still be concerned regardless. Coaches feel they have to participate because they hear stories about what other schools are offering.”

Basketball stars are worth big bucks

With one basketball prospect able to transform a team into a contender or fill a valuable hole in a roster, it should come as no surprise that recruits or transfers have become valuable commodities through NIL.

Take Miami transfer guard Nijel Pack for example. Pack played for Kansas State for two seasons before announcing his decision to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Pack committed to Miami prior to testing the NBA draft. He will keep that commitment by playing with the Hurricanes next season. Many experts believe he’s keeping that commitment largely because of an $800,000 NIL deal with LifeWallet that also includes the use of a car.

LifeWallet CEO John Ruiz says the deal with Pack – and others he’s struck – are acceptable under NCAA rules. Ruiz says has a legitimate business, he’s not a collective and the student-athlete was offered the funds after their commitments.

Yet, Pack’s deal is a sign of the amount of money available on the NIL market for basketball recruits and transfers.

Further evidence can be seen on the On3 NIL 100, which is the defacto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by On3 NIL Valuation.

The On3 NIL 100 features a number of star basketball recruits and basketball players, including Bronny James with a $6.3 million valuation and Mikey Williams with a $2.6 million value. All in all, four of the top 11 on the list are either basketball recruits or college players. Plus, the average of the top 10 in the On3 High School Basketball NIL rankings is $1.3 million.

“It’s plain and simple,” Tipton said. “Just like it is in football, the programs with the largest collectives are going to win at the end of the day.”