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On Monday, January 29, I will be amongst a group of NIL professionals hosting an NIL Summit at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, NC. Click here to learn more and register!

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Today’s Case

NCAA imposes infractions on Florida State Football for NIL violations

The most severe NIL infraction to date has been imposed.

Last week, the NCAA announced that Florida State assistant football coach Alex Atkins, violated NCAA rules as he was found to have committed multiple violations, which include impermissible recruiting activity and facilitating impermissible contact with an NIL-related booster.

The sanctions are tied to a spring 2022 recruiting event and are part of a resolution negotiated between the school and the NCAA.

Atkins is alleged to have driven a prospect and his parents to a meeting with a leading member of the school’s NIL collective, Rising Spear. During that meeting, according to the NCAA, the booster encouraged the prospect to enroll at Florida State and offered him an NIL opportunity with the collective worth approximately $15,000 per month during his first year at the school.

As part of the penalties, Atkins being suspended for the first three games of next season, given two years probation for the program and a forced disassociation with their NIL collective for one season.

A full list of penalties (10 total) can be found here.

The Verdict

• The NCAA is showing they are taking this matter seriously

  • From looking at the penalties linked above, two of the more impactful outcomes are a 5% reduction in scholarships during the two-year probationary period (5 total scholarships) and a 1% fine of the athletic department’s budget.

    • By handing down multiple infractions at the team and athletic department level, this should hopefully deter other schools from acting in a similar manner and expecting not to get caught. (Although the reality is that some schools are probably doing the same and will continue to do so.)

  • It is also worth noting that generally the student-athlete themselves do not endure any punishment or suspension if said NIL dealings and conversations involve them and that the student-athlete does not intentionally violate NIL guidelines.

• The rules are still murky

  • The NCAA only has an interim NIL policy that provides guidance to programs. And while the organization adopted new guidance last week around NIL, those changes are not retroactively applied.

  • At last week’s NCAA Convention, the organization adopted new recommendations that permits schools to have more communication with collectives and facilitate deals with enrolled athletes.

  • While rules can be interpreted many ways, the NCAA is attempting to bring a formalized structure to the process.

Scholarship with no NIL opportunities?

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart offers an NIL solution. Check out this video for more!

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