RICHMOND, Va. — In a significant shift for college athletics, schools like Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) are adapting to the new landscape shaped by the recent House ruling court case.
The landmark case allows NCAA schools to pay student-athletes based on their name, image, and likeness (NIL), a change Athletic Director Ed McLaughlin believes is crucial for maintaining the Rams' competitive edge.
McLaughlin, who has spent two decades in college athletics, said that the emergence of NIL and the transfer portal has dramatically altered the industry.
Under the new model, student-athletes can earn income reflecting their marketability—a concept that was virtually unheard of just a decade ago.
"When I first got here 13 years ago, almost now, we had just moved into the A10 and all that conference realignment was happening, and then we had things like cost of attendance happening, and we had little things like that that seemed like there were big changes in the business, and it turned out they weren't even close. Nothing has changed the business since this much since Title IX," he said about the historical significance of this change.
Despite arguments suggesting that a college scholarship should suffice, McLaughlin expressed a differing perspective.
As a parent who will soon pay tuition for two of his children, he acknowledges the rising economic standards.
"As a capitalist, I'm not quite sure we should ever restrict anything like that," he said. "We're certainly not restricting coaches. So I don't know why we'd hold the kids to a higher standard than we do the adults,” he said.
NCAA schools were required to declare participation in the House settlement by early March.
VCU opted into the agreement shortly after the new year, well ahead of the deadline.
McLaughlin indicated that entering the settlement is essential for VCU's national visibility and competitiveness.
"There's nothing more visible in your campus than your athletic department. That just reality and there's no really debate about that," he said. "Now for us to be competitive nationally and to still be that national brand that we are, we have to opt into the House settlement, you know, revenue sharing with student athletes going forward, which is the foundation of the House settlement. That is the way to stay competitive," he said.
The House settlement permits schools to allocate up to $20 million annually to pay student athletes. It's a budget primarily accessible to Power 4 programs that make more money due to their football programs.
Smaller schools and those without football teams, like VCU will determine their budgets.
McLaughlin and his staff estimated they can afford to pay around $5 million per year to Ram athletes while remaining competitive.
"How do we make sure that we can be a Top 25 basketball program on men's and women's? Understanding where the market was going to be, we made the decision to that it was going to be cost us about $5 million to do this," he said.
While a majority of the $5 millions will go to men's and women's basketball players, any Ram athlete would be eligible for payment.
The amount any student athlete would be paid has not yet been determined.
"There's no other way to do it. You will not be able to recruit or retain student athletes who are talented, and you will not be able to retain coaches who are very good if you don't," McLaughlin said.
Meanwhile, the University of Richmond announced its intention to join VCU in opting into the settlement.
Richmond said it would pay basketball players on both its men’s and women’s teams as soon as July 1 should the House v. NCAA settlement receive final judicial approval on April 7.
"Opting into the terms of the settlement is the best way to preserve Richmond's ability to offer Spiders unparalleled opportunities," Richmond athletic director John Hardt said.
The university said non-basketball players could still be paid NIL income, but not directly from the university like the basketball players.
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