Eliminate NIL and roll the portal back. Done!

Gr8spur · Mar 11, 2026

I'd eliminate NIL (scrap the video games and fight it out in court) and roll the portal back to the days of sitting out a year if you transfer. Listen, these kids are student athletes. A free ride scholarship is more than enough "compensation." Allow the schools to use the sport's revenues to bring down the cost of higher education for everyone. Bring the coach salaries in line with the rest of university/college faculty. Stop the insanity! It really is that easy. The stupid thing is that we allowed a football video game to cause this mess. Just make the games with randomly generated, fictitious players. Make the game about student athletes again. Give the NCAA the tools and authority to enforce compliance. If you disagree with me, I don't care.

Piscis · Mar 11, 2026

Gr8spur said:
I'd eliminate NIL (scrap the video games and fight it out in court) and roll the portal back to the days of sitting out a year if you transfer. Listen, these kids are student athletes. A free ride scholarship is more than enough "compensation." Allow the schools to use the sport's revenues to bring down the cost of higher education for everyone. Bring the coach salaries in line with the rest of university/college faculty. Stop the insanity! It really is that easy. The stupid thing is that we allowed a football video game to cause this mess. Just make the games with randomly generated, fictitious players. Make the game about student athletes again. Give the NCAA the tools and authority to enforce compliance. If you disagree with me, I don't care.

Unfortunately, all of that has already been decided by courts and would be illegal to do now.

The only real "solution" I can see is, make the athletes have to be admitted to the school through regular admission channels BEFORE they could be an athlete for the school and be granted a scholarship. Then, make athletes who wish to transfer to another school have to meet the transfer requirements of the new school like any other student wishing to transfer in. NIL collectives could not really offer any money to athletes until after they were on campus and on the team, so the bidding wars for recruits would end.

In short, schools have to make athletes be students first, then athletes.

18IsTheMan · Mar 11, 2026

Piscis said:
Unfortunately, all of that has already been decided by courts and would be illegal to do now.

The only real "solution" I can see is, make the athletes have to be admitted to the school through regular admission channels BEFORE they could be an athlete for the school and be granted a scholarship. Then, make athletes who wish to transfer to another school have to meet the transfer requirements of the new school like any other student wishing to transfer in. NIL collectives could not really offer any money to athletes until after they were on campus and on the team, so the bidding wars for recruits would end.

In short, schools have to make athletes be students first, then athletes.

They COULD do something with NIL to make it actual NIL and not openly pay for play. Problem is, there are so many seedy and dishonest folks involved, they will find ways to exploit NIL to make it pay for play no matter what anyone does.

The second NIL was announced, we all knew this is what it would turn into.

muscleknight · Mar 11, 2026

It will just go back to under the table and biggie bags

Lurker123 · Mar 11, 2026

Have the courts decided on the "sitting out a year" portion of the OP?

If not, that alone could make a huge dent in the madness.

Gr8spur · Mar 11, 2026

Piscis said:
Unfortunately, all of that has already been decided by courts and would be illegal to do now.

Court decisions can be overturned. Write a new law that eliminates NIL for all student athletes. Either go to college on a scholarship or go pro out of high school.

Gamecock Jacque · Mar 11, 2026

Gr8spur said:
Court decisions can be overturned. Write a new law that eliminates NIL

Courts rule duly passed laws are un-constitutional every day.

Piscis · Mar 12, 2026

Gr8spur said:
Court decisions can be overturned. Write a new law that eliminates NIL for all student athletes. Either go to college on a scholarship or go pro out of high school.

Help me understand the basis for the appeal that would overturn the ruling. Fans not liking how NIL works is not much of a legal argument. Football players cannot go pro directly out of HS, neither can basketball players (at least not to the NBA).

SC95 · Mar 12, 2026

I don't like the professionalization of college athletics, but it won't be rolled back. At least implement a salary cap for college football and basketball and hold players accountable--enforce contracts and utilize multi-year contracts to maintain some stability.

They are not student athletes, they are employees. It's no longer about our students (or classmates) beating their students (or classmates).

Viennacock · Mar 12, 2026

Gr8spur said:
Court decisions can be overturned. Write a new law that eliminates NIL for all student athletes. Either go to college on a scholarship or go pro out of high school.

Not going to happen, nor should it happen.

RL09 · Mar 12, 2026

I would like to see a cap placed on teams for how much NIL they are allowed to spend.

bayrooster · Mar 12, 2026

SC95 said:
I don't like the professionalization of college athletics, but it won't be rolled back. At least implement a salary cap for college football and basketball and hold players accountable--enforce contracts and utilize multi-year contracts to maintain some stability.

They are not student athletes, they are employees. It's no longer about our students (or classmates) beating their students (or classmates).

I agree, it needs to be fixed.

Lurker123 · Mar 12, 2026

RL09 said:
I would like to see a cap placed on teams for how much NIL they are allowed to spend.

The cap would be good, multi year contracts would be good, sitting out a year on transfer would be nice, but how many of those things could pass the legal challenges?

gamecock stock · Mar 12, 2026

Gr8spur said:
I'd eliminate NIL (scrap the video games and fight it out in court) and roll the portal back to the days of sitting out a year if you transfer. Listen, these kids are student athletes. A free ride scholarship is more than enough "compensation." Allow the schools to use the sport's revenues to bring down the cost of higher education for everyone. Bring the coach salaries in line with the rest of university/college faculty. Stop the insanity! It really is that easy. The stupid thing is that we allowed a football video game to cause this mess. Just make the games with randomly generated, fictitious players. Make the game about student athletes again. Give the NCAA the tools and authority to enforce compliance. If you disagree with me, I don't care.

The SEC and BIG won't go along with any changes. They both like the current system. Most everybody else does not. We (SC) would love to see changes. But, frankly, we are a minor player in the SEC. So, we have little to no clout. We are a small, relatively poor state. So, we will always be at a disadvantage in the NIL era. Our only chance to really compete is to have Head Coaches who "can do more with less". Even that would not guarantee championships. But it would give us a chance to finishing in the upper half of the SEC. It makes collegiate sports less fun for me, as opposed to prior decades. But, it's a fact of Gamecock sports, whether we like it or not.

atl-cock · Mar 12, 2026

Time to pick a school on the D-II or D-III level and follow them. No NILs (at least none in D-III), no transfer drama. Just college students turning pro in something other than basketball.

Two SC schools are dancing in men's D-II - Anderson & Lander. Each has their first round game on Saturday.

Francis Marion and Coker square off tomorrow in first round D-II women's action. Augusta is also dancing - I threw that in given SC proximity.

Nobody from SC in D-III dancing this year from either gender.

And for a change of pace, I am planning to attend a men's sweet-16 D-III matchup tomorrow between Yeshiva University and Emory. Held on the Emory campus, a 10-minute drive from my house. The Facility is the Woodruff Physical Education Center, known on campus as the WoodPEC

.

Piscis · Mar 13, 2026

RL09 said:
I would like to see a cap placed on teams for how much NIL they are allowed to spend.

As I understand it, NIL collectives are independent entities not associated with the actual schools and not a part of any sort of association or organization. Who, exactly, is going to put a cap on their spending?

College sports is the Wild West now and it isn't going to get better anytime soon. Fans clamored for this, wanting players to be paid. Now, they get to live with what they demanded.

bayrooster · Mar 13, 2026

Piscis said:
As I understand it, NIL collectives are independent entities not associated with the actual schools and not a part of any sort of association or organization. Who, exactly, is going to put a cap on their spending?

College sports is the Wild West now and it isn't going to get better anytime soon. Fans clamored for this, wanting players to be paid. Now, they get to live with what they demanded.

Athletic departments don't have accountants? This isn't boosters directly handing money under the table to players.

Lurker123 · Mar 13, 2026

bayrooster said:
Athletic departments don't have accountants? This isn't boosters directly handing money under the table to players.

No, this is boosters directly handing money to the players on top of the table now.

Unless things have changed again, the schools have roughly 20 million in "settlement" money that they can spend on players.

Then there is 3rd party NIL deals that are between the boosters and the players. So the schools HAVE been capped. The 3rd party deals are still the wild west.

Harvard Gamecock · Mar 13, 2026

There may be modifications to the portal and NIL deals, but elimination ?
No one could possibly be so naive to think the NIL structure is going to be eradicated.

Piscis · Mar 13, 2026

bayrooster said:
Athletic departments don't have accountants? This isn't boosters directly handing money under the table to players.

Athletic department accountants don't get to look at the collective's books. This is boosters handing money to the players in plain sight and the athletic departments can't do anything about it other than tell them what players they would like.

atl-cock · Mar 13, 2026

Just got back from the game. About 1500 in attendance. A couple of guys on the Emory team looked like they might succeed at the D-II level. Again, no NIL, and everyone turning pro in something other than sports. True varsity intercollegiate athletics. It was a hard fought game. Final - Emory 101 - Yeshiva 80. Both coaches sent in their 3rd string players with about two minutes left. Sportsmanship.

It's probably been decades since that existed in D-I, especially at P4 schools.

Eliminate NIL and roll the portal back. Done!

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