i think it was just NIL mostly..
www.espn.com
Less than a quarter of the nation's wealthiest college athletic departments say they have a plan in place to maximize the amount of money they can give to athletes this year by providing cash rewards for getting good grades.
For many athletes, the academic year was a revolutionary one for their bank accounts. Boosters and brands spent millions of dollars in the newly-formed marketplace for athlete endorsement deals. And while schools quickly invested in helping their athletes find ways to sell their name, image and likeness to outside bidders, they have been generally slow to reach for their own wallets to take advantage of a new, less-publicized rule that allows the athletic department to reward athletes directly for strong performances in the classroom.
In response to a federal judge's mandate, the NCAA changed its rules in August 2020 to allow schools to pay each of their athletes up to $5,980 per year as a reward for academic performance. The oddly specific dollar amount was calculated during the legal proceedings because it is equal to the maximum amount of financial value an athlete can receive in one year from awards related to their athletic performance, such as conference player of the year titles or the Heisman Trophy. The Supreme Court solidified the federal judge's ruling with a 9-0 decision in the NCAA v Alston case last June.
According to information gathered by ESPN in the past several months from public records requests and a voluntary survey, only 21 of the 130 FBS-level schools say they have plans in place to provide these academic bonus payments to their athletes this year. Twenty months after the initial rule change, and nine months after any doubt about its legal permanence was removed, more than a third of FBS schools say they have not yet decided whether they will provide these additional benefits to athletes.
Schools are not required to provide any new benefits or cash bonuses, but have the option to do so. Of the 130 schools contacted, 101 provided a response. Among the findings:
• Twenty-one schools said they have plans in place to reward their athletes with payments for good grades this semester.
• Thirty-four said they have not yet decided if or when they will start to pay academic bonuses.
• Twenty-one said they will not make bonus payments this year, but plan to make them in the future.
• Fifteen said they have no plans to pay academic bonuses.
• Ten responded to public records requests by saying they have no relevant documents of a plan to share or by sharing documents that provided no information about an existing plan to make academic bonus payments.
The results provide another example of the financial disparity among schools within the bowl subdivision. Nine of the 21 schools with plans to pay bonuses this year compete in the nation's richest conference -- the SEC. Georgia, the reigning national champion in football, is the only SEC school that said it was still undecided on bonus payments.
"We want to do everything we can for our student-athletes," said Hilary Cox, an associate athletic director at South Carolina, which announced its plans to pay bonuses earlier this year. "I don't think it was a difficult decision. It's a substantial amount of money, but it was something that our athletic director and administration thought was important."
Five schools in the Big 12 said they will pay bonuses this year. The ACC has three schools paying bonuses this year, and the Pac-12 has two. Wisconsin is the only Big Ten school that said it would pay bonuses this year, but also said it was still figuring out the specifics details. Five other Big Ten schools said they will pay athletes, but not this year.
The challenges of COVID-19 may have played a role in a slower-than-expected response to these rule changes, according to attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who represented the plaintiffs in last summer's U.S. Supreme Court case. He said he was pleased to see a general trend toward athletes getting more.
"The competitive market will emerge and we fully expect everyone will have these in the near future," Kessler said. "If not for COVID, I think it would have happened more quickly. ...With the combination of the educational aid and NIL, it's hard to not see that the welfare of athletes today is significantly advanced to where it was prior to the Alston decision."
All but one of the schools paying academic bonuses this year come from a Power 5 conference. UConn, a member of the Big East, said it will pay bonuses to its men's and women's basketball players who earn them this year and hopes to include other sports in the future. A half dozen other schools from non-Power 5 conferences say they plan to pay bonuses to their athletes in the future.
UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir, whose department plans to start paying academic bonuses later this summer, said he wasn't particularly concerned about the gap between Power 5 schools and others. Mohajir said the bonus payments can make a huge difference in providing peace of mind for many athlete (especially those on partial scholarships), but most athletes won't be choosing schools based on the potential for an extra few thousand dollars per semester so he didn't think it would exacerbate any competitive imbalance.
Mohajir said finding the money to make the payments was the main issue to be solved before UCF could move forward with paying athletes.
"We've got to budget for it," Mohajir said. "It's really just a budgetary item, that's why we're planning to do it next term."
Budgets for the additional benefits ranged from a few hundred thousand dollars up to $6 million, according to survey responses. Most schools estimate they will need to reserve between $2 million and $3 million each year to pay bonuses to their athletes.
Many athletic departments set their budget in late spring, and likely had decided on how to allocate money for the current academic year before the Supreme Court's ruling last summer solidified these new rules.
NCAA schools falling short on cash-for-grades pay
With colleges allowed to pay each of their athletes up to $5,980 per year as a reward for academic performance, only 22 of 130 FBS-level schools have plans in place to do so, according to information gathered by ESPN.
Only 21 of 130 NCAA FBS-level schools say they have plans to provide allowed academic bonus payments to athletes this year
1:27 PM ET-
Dan MurphyESPN Staff Writer
Less than a quarter of the nation's wealthiest college athletic departments say they have a plan in place to maximize the amount of money they can give to athletes this year by providing cash rewards for getting good grades.
For many athletes, the academic year was a revolutionary one for their bank accounts. Boosters and brands spent millions of dollars in the newly-formed marketplace for athlete endorsement deals. And while schools quickly invested in helping their athletes find ways to sell their name, image and likeness to outside bidders, they have been generally slow to reach for their own wallets to take advantage of a new, less-publicized rule that allows the athletic department to reward athletes directly for strong performances in the classroom.
In response to a federal judge's mandate, the NCAA changed its rules in August 2020 to allow schools to pay each of their athletes up to $5,980 per year as a reward for academic performance. The oddly specific dollar amount was calculated during the legal proceedings because it is equal to the maximum amount of financial value an athlete can receive in one year from awards related to their athletic performance, such as conference player of the year titles or the Heisman Trophy. The Supreme Court solidified the federal judge's ruling with a 9-0 decision in the NCAA v Alston case last June.
According to information gathered by ESPN in the past several months from public records requests and a voluntary survey, only 21 of the 130 FBS-level schools say they have plans in place to provide these academic bonus payments to their athletes this year. Twenty months after the initial rule change, and nine months after any doubt about its legal permanence was removed, more than a third of FBS schools say they have not yet decided whether they will provide these additional benefits to athletes.
Schools Paying Academic Bonuses
The 21 NCAA FBS-level schools -- out of 130 -- that say they have plans in place to provide academic bonus payments -- up to $5,980 -- to their athletes this year.| Arkansas | Oklahoma |
| Auburn | Oklahoma St. |
| Clemson | Ole Miss |
| Connecticut | Oregon |
| Florida | South Carolina |
| Iowa State | Tennessee |
| Kentucky | Texas |
| LSU | Texas Tech |
| Miami | Washington |
| Missouri | Wisconsin |
| North Carolina |
• Twenty-one schools said they have plans in place to reward their athletes with payments for good grades this semester.
• Thirty-four said they have not yet decided if or when they will start to pay academic bonuses.
• Twenty-one said they will not make bonus payments this year, but plan to make them in the future.
• Fifteen said they have no plans to pay academic bonuses.
• Ten responded to public records requests by saying they have no relevant documents of a plan to share or by sharing documents that provided no information about an existing plan to make academic bonus payments.
The results provide another example of the financial disparity among schools within the bowl subdivision. Nine of the 21 schools with plans to pay bonuses this year compete in the nation's richest conference -- the SEC. Georgia, the reigning national champion in football, is the only SEC school that said it was still undecided on bonus payments.
"We want to do everything we can for our student-athletes," said Hilary Cox, an associate athletic director at South Carolina, which announced its plans to pay bonuses earlier this year. "I don't think it was a difficult decision. It's a substantial amount of money, but it was something that our athletic director and administration thought was important."
Five schools in the Big 12 said they will pay bonuses this year. The ACC has three schools paying bonuses this year, and the Pac-12 has two. Wisconsin is the only Big Ten school that said it would pay bonuses this year, but also said it was still figuring out the specifics details. Five other Big Ten schools said they will pay athletes, but not this year.
The challenges of COVID-19 may have played a role in a slower-than-expected response to these rule changes, according to attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who represented the plaintiffs in last summer's U.S. Supreme Court case. He said he was pleased to see a general trend toward athletes getting more.
"The competitive market will emerge and we fully expect everyone will have these in the near future," Kessler said. "If not for COVID, I think it would have happened more quickly. ...With the combination of the educational aid and NIL, it's hard to not see that the welfare of athletes today is significantly advanced to where it was prior to the Alston decision."
All but one of the schools paying academic bonuses this year come from a Power 5 conference. UConn, a member of the Big East, said it will pay bonuses to its men's and women's basketball players who earn them this year and hopes to include other sports in the future. A half dozen other schools from non-Power 5 conferences say they plan to pay bonuses to their athletes in the future.
UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir, whose department plans to start paying academic bonuses later this summer, said he wasn't particularly concerned about the gap between Power 5 schools and others. Mohajir said the bonus payments can make a huge difference in providing peace of mind for many athlete (especially those on partial scholarships), but most athletes won't be choosing schools based on the potential for an extra few thousand dollars per semester so he didn't think it would exacerbate any competitive imbalance.
Mohajir said finding the money to make the payments was the main issue to be solved before UCF could move forward with paying athletes.
"We've got to budget for it," Mohajir said. "It's really just a budgetary item, that's why we're planning to do it next term."
Budgets for the additional benefits ranged from a few hundred thousand dollars up to $6 million, according to survey responses. Most schools estimate they will need to reserve between $2 million and $3 million each year to pay bonuses to their athletes.
Many athletic departments set their budget in late spring, and likely had decided on how to allocate money for the current academic year before the Supreme Court's ruling last summer solidified these new rules.
