Coaches believe Indiana Basketball is battling for the best NIL situation in the country

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The makeup of college basketball rosters has changed dramatically in recent years, and a major reason for that is the fact that student-athletes can capitalize on their name, image and likeness (NIL).

Players aren’t just evaluating coaches, teammates, facilities and other factors when choosing a school. Now part of their decision-making process is where they can make money. But unlike professional sports, where salaries are documented, the exact amount of college payments to players remains uncertain.

To shed light on this dynamic in college sports, CBS Sports college basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander interviewed over 100 Division I men’s basketball coaches – from the sport’s biggest names to the lesser-known assistant coaches – for their annual “Candid Coaches” series.

On Wednesday, they released part of the series in which coaches were anonymously asked: Which three programs do you think have the best NIL situations?

Here are the results, including the percentage of ballots each team appeared on.

Other programs that received at least one vote: Arizona, Florida, Georgetown, McNeese State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Villanova and Washington.

In short, 16.9% of coaches surveyed believe Indiana has one of the top three NIL situations in men’s college basketball. That’s the highest percentage in the Big Ten, and only four teams nationwide received a higher percentage of votes than the Hoosiers.

Indiana’s official NIL collectives are called Hoosiers Connect and Hoosiers For Good. According to their websites, “Hoosiers Connect provides fans and businesses with the opportunity to get involved and support NIL. Through a Hoosiers Connect membership, fans can become part of the team and directly impact NIL opportunities for IU student-athletes. By purchasing one of our memberships, fans receive exclusive experiences, memorabilia and other perks. We also partner with businesses and organizations to connect them with IU student-athletes by leveraging our extensive experience with NIL and our established relationships with IU student-athletes.”

“Hoosiers For Good was founded in March 2022 to raise awareness for charitable causes across Indiana – by partnering local charities with community-minded Hoosier student-athletes who use their platform and influence to amplify the philanthropic work that helps our community thrive.”

Indiana coach Mike Woodson had a busy offseason assembling his roster for the 2024-25 season. Indiana lost six players from last season – Kel’el Ware, Xavier Johnson, Anthony Walker, CJ Gunn, Kaleb Banks and Payton Sparks – and replaced them with six transfers and one freshman. Those new Hoosiers include Myles Rice (Washington State), Oumar Ballo (Arizona), Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford), Luke Goode (Illinois), Langdon Hatton (Bellarmine), Dallas James (South Carolina State) and five-star freshman Bryson Tucker.

Fans can see the newly formed Indiana team for the first time on October 18 at Hoosier Hysteria and in its first exhibition game on November 1 against Marian University.