UNLV vs. Fresno State is the end of the Sluka era as the college QB leaves for zero funds

In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA could not prohibit student-athletes from benefiting from education-related payments. The Supreme Court, better known as the “Name, Image, and Likeness” (NIL) ruling, declared that student-athletes could be paid for the use of their name, image and likeness without jeopardizing their “amateur” status . What followed this decision can only be described as complete chaos.

Two major NIL-related college football stories in recent days are a case in point.

UNLV starts at quarterback on Tuesday night Matthew Sluka announced He left the Rebels’ 3-0 football program. Sluka transferred to the school from Holy Cross after last season. His agent told ESPN that Sluka’s decision was at least partially driven by a verbal offer of $100,000 promised by an assistant coach. Sluka’s father claims UNLV head coach Barry Odom claimed the verbal offer was invalid because it did not come from him.

UNLV has a different perspective. The university said in a statement that the student-athlete’s representative “made financial demands on the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.” The school claimed that while it “acknowledged all previously agreed upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka,” Sluka’s team’s demands were interpreted “as a violation of the NCAA’s pay-for-play rules as well as Nevada state law.”

What’s more, UNLV has a fan- and alumni-driven collective that helps pay players for their name, image and likeness. The Friends of UNLV collective says there is no record of Sluka being owed any money other than a $3,000 payment he received over the summer for an engagement he attended.

Because Sluka is leaving so early in the season, he will retain his eligibility for another year if he transfers to another program. But it also means he has let his teammates down after one of the best starts in school history with wins over Big 12 foes Houston and Kansas.

Either way, this “new normal” for college athletics is increasingly feeling like the Wild West. As a vocal conservative sports and news commentator Clay Travis pointed this out to youEven in professional sports, there is no such thing as “indefinite free agency,” which allows you to leave one team after four games of a season and join another.

In another corner of the internet, controversial Barstool Sports founder and CEO Dave Portnoy took to social media on Thursday Offer up to $3 million annually to the best (and qualified) quarterbacks committed to his alma mater, Michigan. Four years ago, if a coach bought too many cheeseburgers for a starving player on his roster, the NCAA could sanction him. Now there are sports media company owners offering suitcases full of cash to student-athletes.