College recruiting continues to test the bounds of the NCAA’s permission for players to get paid for their name and likeness. On Friday, The Athletic reported that a high school junior has signed a deal that will pay as much as $8 million by his junior year of college.
The Athletic was allowed to review the contract under the agreement that the outlet would not report the identity of the player or the school’s NIL collective.
The player will be paid $350,000 and then receive monthly payments that will escalate to a number greater than $2 million per year once he begins college, The Athletic reported. The Class of 2023 athlete will make public appearances, take part in social media promotions and perform other NIL activities.
It is believed to be the largest individual NIL deal signed by a non-professional athlete.
The Athletic reported that to avoid violating the pay-for-play rule, the contract does not stipulate the enrollment at a specific university, solely that it is an NCAA member institution and a member of the football team at the school.
The player handed over exclusive rights to use his NIL.
Despite the fact that the athlete can choose his NCAA school without violating the contract, The Athletic writer Stewart Mandel noted that the payment was to “entice him toward a specific school — even if not put in writing” and that Mandel expects this “will horrify college administrators, many of them already frustrated by the NCAA’s inability to police NIL.”