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Dan Hurley hopeful compensation law will keep players in school

Halldan1

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Jan 1, 2003
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Associated Press

STORRS, Conn. -- UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley is hopeful legislation passed this week in Connecticut that will allow college athletes to profit from the use of their names, images and likenesses will keep more players in school.

Hurley on Friday thanked the Connecticut General Assembly for passing the so-called NIL legislation Tuesday, which will make it possible for college players to be paid for such things as endorsements, social media content, sponsorship deals and personal appearances.

It is expected to receive the signature of Gov. Ned Lamont and would go into effect in September, superseding NCAA rules prohibiting that type of compensation for athletes.

At least 18 other states have adopted similar legislation, which comes as the NCAA and Congress both consider adopting a national standard allowing Division I athletes to make money in this way.

Hurley said in Connecticut, where UConn athletes garner much of the sports spotlight, the law could be an incentive to keep them from turning pro early.

"You've got really just the one major professional sports team with the WNBA, but beyond that you don't have major professional sports here," he said. "So are there are going to be more opportunities for NIL for college athletes at the University of Connecticut? Probably. Would they be more inclined to do an extra year? You know, maybe, possibly."

Hurley said the legislation also will help colleges compete against the other options for young players, such as heading to a developmental professional league instead of going to school and getting an education.

"I think it's a good thing to try and make it more appealing for the better players to want to go and play college basketball," he said.

UConn is in the process of finding an outside agency that can help its athletes manage the NIL landscape, the school said.

"They've just got to make sure they manage it the right way; they're not coming to me and saying they've got a photo shoot at 1:45 and we've got practice at 2 o'clock," Hurley said. "They are just going to have to be very, very organized with that. But it's a good thing."
 
Another advantage for UCONN. They’re in the middle of nowhere so there is little competition for NIL opportunities. This is the same for other big state schools in the SEC, B1G and Big 12 with little professional sports competition.
 
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I’m not familiar with all the aspects of this. I can see the logic that certain geographies may have advantages because of the lack of professional sports impact, unlike our region.

But doesn’t all it take potentially is one interested and willing booster. For example, if Mike Repole wants to help SJU, couldn’t he just have their kids be brand ambassadors for his multi-billion dollar sports drinks empire? He probably could structure it in a way where the cost isn’t too great for his company. Like putting Alexander on a billboard near MSG with the sports drink advertisement?
 
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I’m not familiar with all the aspects of this. I can see the logic that certain geographies may have advantages because of the lack of professional sports impact, unlike our region.

But doesn’t all it take potentially is one interested and willing booster. For example, if Mike Repole wants to help SJU, couldn’t he just have their kids be brand ambassadors for his multi-billion dollar sports drinks empire? He probably could structure it in a way where the cost isn’t too great for his company. Like putting Alexander on a billboard near MSG with the sports drink advertisement?
This.

Every SEC fan who owns a car dealership can funnel money to players for their NIL. I think this was a largely well intended idea that was incredibly poorly implemented. I still don’t believe any state legislation was needed, or even relevant. There are no laws that prevent kids from profiting from their name, image, likeness. It is an NCAA rule, so the fix is for the NCAA to change its rules, not state or federal legislation. This is Emmert failing to take a leadership position. Man, I hate that guy.

I do think this is another case of the haves helping themselves under the guise of giving student athletes more rights. But there will be new ground that teams will take advantage of. Maybe the Hall doesn’t have the alumni to compete with endorsement contracts for the top players in the country, but then that’s not what you target. You work on getting the tier below, or maybe the tier below that, some form of compensation. The big dogs are going to eat first, but that doesn’t mean there’s not opportunities for everyone.

In my view, though, it is a bad idea that has the potential to undermine college sports. Are kids going to decide not to make the extra pass on a break because getting a break away dunk enhances their brand value? Is it going to create jealousies on the team for role players who don’t have sponsors? I don’t know, but I see the potential for it to be a shit show.
 
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