Contracts, Controversies, and College Sports
Here’s a solid bar trivia question: name a mainstream Hollywood drama that featured four (soon to be five) NBA Hall of Famers?
That would be Blue Chips, a 1994 film starring Nick Nolte as an embattled ‘famous’ coach experiencing his first losing season. He’s under increasing pressure by boosters and talk radio to ‘do something.’ We’ll let Roger Ebert, in his generally good review, describe it: “But he’s just had his first losing season, after a career that has brought his teams two national titles. So maybe it’s only a matter of time until he unleashes the rabid alums who, as ‘friends of the program,’ shower cash and cars on likely prospects, and new tractors and homes on their parents.”
Unsurprisingly, he’s back on top in no time. Unsurprising, as this is a morality play above being a basketball film, the walls close in, a reporter is sniffing around, and his career ends moments after one of his greatest victories.
In the middle of all this, the clear bad guy, the head of the boosters (the great and always evil J.T. Walsh) gives a speech “that is nearly irrefutable, as he points out how much money the coach, the team and the school makes, and then adds, ‘God damn it, Coach, we owe those kids!’”
That was the 1990’s, let’s fast forward to the big NCAA Football news this month—which can be summed up by this headline:
The Nico Iamaleava NIL Contract Saga: Amateur Hour Costs Millions
Nico Iamaleava was last seen on national TV as Tennessee was blown out in a playoff game at Ohio State. Despite the loss, his future seemed assured—he had a rocket arm, was in the spotlight with a top-10 playoff contender at Tennessee, and had a Name Image and Likeness (NIL) worth about $2.2 million per year.
Iamaleava had virtually launched the era of NIL contracts as a high school senior in March 2022, when he signed an unprecedented $8 million multiyear agreement with Tennessee. He was the face of the future of big-time college sports. The poster child for players finally getting compensated for making money for their schools.
In the last few weeks, he has also become the poster child for bumbling contract negotiations…and probably not reading his original one to begin with.
Early in April it was revealed that Nico and his ‘camp’ (primarily he and his father) were ‘quietly testing the transfer waters.’ The University of Miami was initially a possibility but that door was slammed closed when they signed Georgia’s Carson Beck (a much better quarterback) for more than $3 million.
Publicly, Nico’s family insisted everything was fine. Privately, they were trying to renegotiate—seeking to double Nico’s salary to $4 million. The top of the college quarterback market. It should be noted that Nico had a mediocre year and Tennessee’s success last year was attributed mostly to its top-rated defense.
It appears that Nico’s father and friends drove Tennessee crazy in the weeks after the Ohio State loss. While growing frustrated with increasingly tense and fruitless negotiations, Tennessee remained hopeful.
Until the morning of Tennessee’s spring showcase game. Nico ghosted the Vols. He had missed at least one practice, then just didn’t show up for the game. No messages, no explanations, just silence.
Nico’s Tennessee career (and whatever negotiating leverage he may have had) was over when head coach Josh Heupel walked off the field after the game. The Vols decided enough was enough.
Nico was sent scrambling to find a new school less than two weeks before the transfer portal closed when attractive opportunities are scarce.
His options were limited by a clause in his NIL agreement that if he went to another SEC team (16-team conference, three teams in the playoffs, nine teams in the Top 25) he’d have to sit out a full year before playing.
The Verdict is In
As we were writing this, he signed with UCLA—the school that originally recruited him only to lose him to Tennessee’s NIL offer. The NY Post is reporting that he signed for about $1.5 million while swapping a state with virtually no state income tax for the state with the highest. Beyond that, he definitely took hits in other ways: UCLA as a program is in financial trouble, they are projected to finish 15th in an 18-team conference, TV exposure will be minimal, he will be competing with recent transfer Joey Aguilar from Appalachian State.
In other words, his father and friends—non-lawyers—successfully ‘negotiated’ him from guaranteed millions, prime-time SEC matchups against Alabama and Georgia, and a team with a #7 preseason ranking to the dustbin of college football.
Contracts Matter: Protect Yourself and Your Future
The envelopes of cash, the brand-new John Deere tractor in a parent’s barn, the Lexus in another’s driveway, the mom with a new job and rent-free house, have been replaced by intellectual property and contract law.
Don’t Let a Bad Contract Derail Your Future
At Hopkins Centrich, we specialize in navigating complex contracts and negotiations to protect your interests and future. Don’t let inexperienced negotiations cost you your career or your financial stability. Contact us today—because contracts are serious business.
*Shaquille O’Neal, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, Kevin Garnett, and soon: Penny Hardaway.