The millions on offer to play US College basketball and what it means for the sport’s future
The rivers of gold are flowing in US college basketball, making it more profitable for some athletes to delay going professional. What’s changed — and is it really good for the sport?
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It’s the athlete earning capacity rules that have changed US college basketball forever — but is it for the better?
That’s the question being asked across the hoops world after the NCAA competition moved to allow student-athletes to earn money through endorsements, sponsorships and business ventures.
The rule — dubbed NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) was introduced in 2021 and gives athletes the chance to profit from their personal brands.
In addition, a $4.2 billion federal legal settlement in June this year paved the way for colleges to directly pay athletes.
The annual cap on payments is expected to start around $31.4 million per school and increase annually.
The new rules have sparked an influx of cash in the US college system, with leading basketball athletes like this year’s No. 1 NBA draft pick Cooper Flagg reportedly earning astronomical figures upwards of $42 million via NIL endorsements alone.
This includes a $19 million deal with New Balance and a $23 million deal with Fanatics, according to ESPN journalist Howard Bryant.
Flagg — who led Duke to the NCAA’s Final Four this year — has become a poster boy for NIL’s crazy earning capacity.
The newly drafted Dallas Maverick could have earned even more if he was still in college when the legal settlement approved colleges to pay athletes.
The decision to enable athletes to profit from their personal brands follows previous NCAA rules that prohibited them from earning money based on their athletic profile.
AUSSIE IMPACT
International athletes can make money from NIL deals, but students on F-1 visas are restricted to on-campus employment or work directly related to their degree.
Despite this a host of Australian basketballers are still taking home upwards of $600,000 through NIL deals.
Perth-born Australian forward Alex Condon withdrew from this year’s NBA draft to return for a second season with the Florida Gators as he attempts to win back-to-back NCAA titles.
Condon stands to make a significant amount of money via NIL deals and college payments, potentially in excess of a million dollars according to US reports.
At least 50 early-entry candidates withdrew their names from the 2025 NBA draft ahead of the late May deadline with plans to return to school and cash in on NIL opportunities.
The big dollars on offer via NIL has created global headlines, both positive and negative.
US president Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at regulating the landscape in college sports.
Trump wants to implement guardrails to create a fairer system, including prohibiting third-parties from engaging in direct “pay-for-play” payments to athletes under the new college payment system.
Australia’s latest NBA star Tyrese Proctor benefited under NIL during his three years with Duke University alongside No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg, but agrees with Trump that a limit on earnings in the NCAA should be introduced.
Proctor holds a US passport via his American-born father Rod – and while he didn’t earn big dollars like Flagg – he still made upwards of 400,000 based on US reports and estimations.
The new Cleveland Cavaliers signing can see the positives of the cash injection via NIL and college payments, but he also has his concerns.
“At other programs – it (the money) is getting out of control a little bit,” Proctor said.
“I think they have to put a cap on it. There is definitely a lot of money going around at the moment, but it can make or break teams, in terms of chemistry.”
Proctor revealed Duke were able to put aside the fact Flagg was on life-changing money because the program places an emphasis on culture first.
“I think we did a great job of it at Duke – no one cared about how much we were making and it was all about the goal of winning as many games as we could,” he said.
“NIL is a great tool and source for money on the side, but it has its good and bad points unless you handle it right like we did at Duke.”
As Aussie hoops legend Andrew Gaze attests, “there are also some Australians going to be well paid” in the US college system in the upcoming season, starting in the first week of November.
NBA Global Academy products Luke Fennell (Syracuse) and Jacob Furphy (UConn) both look set to cash in, while Queensland basketball sensation Roman Siulepa knocked back the NBL and rugby union to join the Pittsburgh Panthers for the upcoming NCAA season.
“It’s a lot of money and being able to navigate through my finances, save for the future and set myself up is a big thing and a good first step for my career,” Siulepa told Code Sports this week.
AMOORE LIFTS LID ON ‘WILD’ NIL IMPACT
Ballarat-born WNBA star Georgia Amoore has revealed the “wild” impact of NIL deals on women’s basketball.
According to US reports, Amoore is estimated to have made over a $1 million via deals while she was at Virginia Tech and later at Kentucky.
Remarkably, the guard’s four-year WNBA contract with the Washington Mystics is worth $512,000.
“You have college athletes earning six figures in USD, they’re getting sponsored by Nike, Adidas, they’re superstars, celebrities,” Amoore, 24, said.
“It’s amazing, there’s so many benefits to it (NIL), but then you hit the pros, or people don’t go to play pro and it’s a filter out situation.
“You hit the WNBA, the hardest thing to get, but you take pay cuts, the teams are harder to make and you’re no longer on that pedestal.
“It’s a whirlwind out there.”
Amoore revealed she is in the process of obtaining a US visa to maximise her ability to secure deals after having to knock back an approach from Doritos during her college stint.
“I couldn’t take the money because then I’d be paid on American soil against the rules,” she said.
“Now if those opportunities arise I can take them legally with the VISA.”
HOW DOES NIL WORK?
NIL deals are negotiated between athletes and third parties, not directly with the colleges. The earning capacity also isn’t based on athletic performance.
Athletes can make money through:
Endorsements and Sponsorships:
Athletes partner with brands, including clothing companies, sports equipment brands, or local businesses.
Social Media:
Leverage their social media presence to promote brands and products for compensation.
Appearances and Appearances:
Promotional events, camps, clinics, and also sell merchandise or memorabilia.
Other Business Ventures:
Athletes can blog, podcast, public speaking, art and music
HOW DOES THE PLAYER PAY SYSTEM WORK?
Since July 1 this year, each school will be allowed (but not required) to spend roughly $31.54 million in new payments to their athletes on top of NIL earnings.
The figure will come from a negotiated formula that caps athlete payments at 22 per cent of the average annual revenue that FBS-level schools get from ticket sales, broadcast rights and a few other items. The cap will grow regularly during the 10-year lifespan of the settlement as the schools’ revenue expands and via scheduled incremental increases.
According to reports, each school’s athletic department can decide how it will divide that money among athletes. Not many major programs have shared their budget plans, but those that have say they will spend the overwhelming majority (up to 90 per cent) of their money on football and men’s basketball players.
Code Sports understands now even mid-level colleges are paying upwards of $US600,000 to lure talent to their programs, while leading players stand to take home millions in payments from the colleges.
HIGHEST EARNERS
Duke’s Cooper Flagg is the flag bearer for NIL deals in the US college system, with the newly signed Dallas Maverick earning at least $42 million.
Flagg was a clear leader last season – and while it’s unlikely he’ll be dethroned next season even with colleges cleared to pay athletes – there are a cast of basketballers set to earn significant coin via NIL in the 2025/26 NCAA season.
According to On3 based on a valuation, these include in Aussie dollars:
In the women’s game, 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark leads the way.
Clark, who has helped to attract record eyeballs and attendances to the WNBA with the Indiana Fever, is estimated to have earned over $3 million in NIL money from her college stint with Iowa.
According to ESPN, these figures are set to significantly climb in the 2025/26 NCAA season now that colleges can also pay players directly.
The typical top men’s basketball player at a Power Five school could expect direct payments in the range of hundreds of thousands to possibly over a million dollars annually, depending on their team’s revenue allocation and their status.
In total, a top men’s NCAA player could earn upwards of $10 million via NIL and direct payments in the 2025/26 season.
EXTRA MONEY HAS BEEN AROUND FOR DECADES
Gaze played in the NCAA competition for Seton Hall decades before the NIL rules were introduced, but he says there were always whispers that players earned extra cash on the side.
“There was a lot of rumour and speculation back then about big name players getting paid through the alumni and other ways,” Gaze said.
“I think there was no doubt that went on because players have told me that they had some benefits that weren’t within the rules.
“Relatively speaking some of them would have received some decent benefits, but I don’t think it is to the level it is at right now.”
Unlike today, Gaze didn’t receive a cent to play US college ball for Seton Hall.
The college covered his accommodation, food and tuition, but had strict protocols placed on the players.
“I wasn’t even allowed to use the school phone to call my parents back home,” he revealed.
“I had to go to a public phone and make a collect call.
“The college wasn’t allowed to provide that type of assistance to the players.”
A lot has changed on the college scene since Gaze’s days in the 1980s.
Now even mid-level colleges are paying upwards of $600,000 to lure talent to their programs.
“But that is also life,” he said.
“That is what happens when you leave school and play professional sport and by and large these college sides have become professional teams.”
CALLS FOR CASH YEARS IN THE MAKING
Australian NBA star Ben Simmons made his feelings clear when he publicly called out the NCAA’s financial disparity during his season with LSU in 2016.
Simmons felt the amateurism rules forced him to be an “amateur” while others profited off his name.
“The NCAA is really f —ked up,” Simmons said in the documentary One & Done, per ESPN.com’s Myron Medcalf. “Everybody’s making money except the players. We’re the ones waking up early as hell to be the best team and do everything they want us to do and then the players get nothing.”
All this while the Melbourne-born guard stated he was offered a Bentley, a Rolls-Royce Wraith, watches, jewellery and a house while playing at LSU.
Gaze, though, understands Simmons’ frustrations.
“That is not an unreasonable argument,” he said.
“There were benefits, but they certainly weren’t proportional to what the players were generating.”
AUSSIE HOOPS WILL COP HIT BUT SURVIVE
There is no denying the big dollars in US college is luring some of the best young talent from across the world.
It’s happening here in Australia, with a host of emerging players selecting or weighing up the collegiate path.
Gaze recently spoke to New Zealand and NBL great Kirk Penney, who is now an assistant coach at Wisconsin.
“Kirk said the basketball team had a player budget for direct player payments is around 10 million alone,” he said. “That will encourage kids to take that college route.”
Gaze expects the NBL and Aussie hoops to lose players to US colleges, but he isn’t concerned.
“A lot of the players are developing players,” he said.
“Of course, losing a player like Perth’s Ben Henshall is another level up and that isn’t ideal if they choose the college path, but you don’t lose them forever.
“When it is all said and done I don’t think US college basketball is going to have a major or detrimental impact on the NBL or the Australian system.”
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