Matthew Sluka was off to a tremendous start to his season at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), leading the team to an undefeated record through the first quarter of the season, and he just quit the team.
Why?
It's a new world in college football. Players are getting paid (legally) and contract disputes like this are bound to come up.
Sluka was expecting 100 Gs, but so far has just received $3,000 in moving expenses.
During a phone conversation in December, an assistant coach at UNLV made a pitch to quarterback Matthew Sluka: Come play here and we'll pay you $100,000.
That is at least according to Sluka's agent Marcus Cromartie.
Nine months later, with the Rebels undefeated, ranked in the top 25 and, for now, the Group of Five's favorite to claim a College Football Playoff spot, Sluka is no longer part of the team after he was not paid the promised amount.
Or was it promised?
That's the rub here. The agent Cromartie apparently didn't get anything in writing. He just heard the $100k figure and told Sluka that was the deal.
But UNLV says they never promised it.
Who could have seen this type of mess coming in the wild west of the NIL?
You mean the NIL collective (which is not part of the university) didn't agree to a payment that a UNLV coach floated? Meaning that the team's season may go down the drain over a contract dispute?
This is a mess!
I mean, there are lots of people to blame here. But this agent looks like he can't make a deal.
At least, not a legit deal.
The school, meanwhile, released a statement contending that Sluka's agent made financial demands that it interpreted as a violation of the NCAA rule prohibiting pay-for-play.
‘UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats,' the school said. ‘UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.'
All the school can do is give out the scholarship and hope the NIL collective comes through with whatever money. Coaches aren't even supposed to talk money at all.
But if the position coach did make the offer it was totally unauthorized at every level. But the agent still took it and ran with it, convincing Sluka to sign with UNLV.
It just goes to show, no one knows what the heck the real rules are.
I am always sympathetic to this take:
