The college sports landscape has changed significantly over the last couple of years, mostly due to the emergence of paid name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities for college athletes and the elimination of limits on how many times an athlete can transfer schools throughout their playing careers.
On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman weighed in on the matter during a House Judiciary Committee meeting, saying that former University of Wyoming football star Josh Allen could have been lured away from the Pokes had the current transfer rules and NIL opportunities been available.
“I could see where we’d recruit someone to be the cornerstone of a team, only to have that person lured away by another school, which would essentially or could essentially destroy the entire program,” Hageman said. “I think that is a very significant issue that does need to be addressed.”
UW Athletic Director Tom Burman agreed and told Cowboy State Daily there needs to be more structure in place within college sports on these issues and an examination on how they relate to antitrust laws.
UW’s men’s basketball and football teams have lost some of their top players in recent years after they transferred out to other schools.
Cody Tucker, a Cheyenne native and the founder and editor of 7220Sports.com, said it’s almost got to the point where there’s a negative reaction to high achieving younger players on UW’s rosters because of the fear they might soon leave. He mentioned how the basketball team’s Ogi Agbim, the Mountain West conference newcomer of the year, will likely have many NIL suitors soliciting him after this season completes.
“It’s kind of like we hardly knew ye, it’s brutal,” Tucker said. “Fans don’t feel like they get to know these guys.”
Even some of the most rabid supporters of NIL have expressed concern about what it’s done to the sport, particularly when considering its relationship with the unlimited transfer rule.
Concerning Climate
Hageman’s comments came during a hearing on “Antitrust Law and the NCAA: Examining the Current Climate,” held by the Judiciary Committee. The current state of college sports has come under the scrutiny of Congress as of late with the House Committee On Energy and Commerce also addressing the issue last week.
“The NCAA doesn’t have any teeth, who the hell else is going to do it?” Tucker said.
Although Hageman stressed she also wants to protect the athletes, she said it’s incredibly important to the people of Wyoming that UW maintain not only competitive basketball and football teams, but also rodeo and wrestling.
Hageman also called out the one-time transfer rule, which she believes has specifically impacted Wyoming in a negative way because of the state’s small population and lack of professional sports teams. Burman agrees.
Hageman asked University of Wisconsin Athletic Director Chris McIntosh how the rule changes have incentivized athletes to use the transfer portal more frequently.
McIntosh said the unlimited transfer rule has put coaches in a tough position, harmed the academic progress of student athletes, and created roster instability from year-to-year. He said Congress needs to provide common sense rules to allow athletes to transfer schools for the right reasons, while preserving their academic progress.
“In short, it’s put us in an extremely unstable environment,” he said.
Hageman then asked McIntosh what specific recommendations he would make.
McIntosh said he would be interested in exploring a one-time transfer rule, with the input of student athletes. Tucker said he’d support this change.
But he and Burman both said they still support the existence of NIL. Burman pointed out how former UW football star Logan Wilson wasn’t allowed to host a summer football camp while he was attending the school because he would’ve received money for doing so.
“That wasn’t fair,” he said. “At some of these bigger schools the athletes are literally bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars for their universities”
Academics vs. Athletics
Although many people will argue that most Division I college athletes are in school to primarily play sports, Hageman and Burman believe there should still be a balance between athletics and academic focus. The reality is most of these athletes will still not go on to play professionally.
“Very few have a realistic shot at playing football in the NFL,” Burman said. “The goal of college should be to go out and be a productive member of society. That’s still something you have to do even if you get 2-3 seasons in the NFL.”
Hageman asked Caryl Smith Gilbert, the men’s and women’s track and field coach at the University of Georgia, during the hearing what has happened to the grades of student athletes that transfer multiple times.
“I would assume it’s a very small percentage of people who actually go on to make this a career, to become professional athletes,” Hageman said. “I think providing that education is highly important.”
Smith Gilbert responded that many students will interrupt their academic progress when entering the transfer portal and miss out on graduate school opportunities because of the timing of when they join a new team.
“I think that’s very detrimental when they could’ve had a master’s degree,” she said.
Burman said he’s seen similar tactics employed by athletes getting the easiest degree possible so they can focus on their athletics.
“I believe in the educational mission,” he said.
Hageman also said the issue of sports agents using predatory tactics with the student athletes they represent also needs to be addressed. Agbim’s agent recently made a point to post on social media that the athlete still has one year of eligibility remaining.
NIL
Current rules state that the schools can’t fund NIL opportunities, which must be paid by nonprofit groups or private third parties.
Burman said the efforts of the 1WYO program have been successful since it first started in 2023 but stressed that Wyoming will likely never be a powerhouse within the NIL landscape.
“We’re adapting better, we were struggling early on,” he said. “The real challenge for us is we’re never going to be the highest paying school, but we’ve had a few kids who have been able to capitalize on NIL and have had some significant opportunities where they’re profiting.”
Tucker agreed but said UW should at least benefit from schools like San Diego State, Boise State and Colorado State leaving the Mountain West. What UW will always struggle with, he said, is the fact that there’s only so much money to go around in a state that has no major cities and the smallest population in the country.
“It is what it is,” he said. “The parameters here are tough because the fans here are very dedicated, but we don’t have a lot of them.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
