How Championship Programs Setup NIL Deals For Players

Dawn Staley is taking a strong position on how the NCAA’s newfound name, image, and likeness rights are reshaping college sports and especially recruiting. Place all your winning bets for the NCAA Women's Basketball tournament at New Jersey Online Gambling sites like DraftKings, BetMGM, and FanDuel.

The South Carolina women’s basketball head coach says her recruiting strategy centers on getting to know the prospect as a person, including those closest to them. From there, Staley says her coaching staff inquires about the athlete’s future goals, no matter how attainable or unattainable they might be.

“What we do mainly is we find out what our prospects want, where they see themselves two years from us being in their living rooms, to five years, to ten years, and we write down every single thing that they tell us,” she says. Staley says it’s crucial to hold athletes to their word to instill accountability, especially in the NIL era. She says that she always encourages a message of self-belief.

She believes the NIL is a great mechanism to make sure that all of the players' off-court needs can be met (within legal parameters), and that once there is off-court confidence, then the athletes can step onto the court prepared, focused, and ready to give their best. Coach Staley sees the NIL system as a way to set the students' career up.

As NIL investments continue to grow, Staley would like to see them extend high-profile opportunities to athletes of different races and ethnicities. “Race has to come into this because we are seeing other players from different ethnicities benefit; obviously they’re good players, they’re high-profile players, but we got the highest-profile team as far as what we are able to do this year,” Staley says of her No. 1-ranked South Carolina squad. “I mean, I don’t see an Aliyah Boston with sponsorships that are six figures. Now, we don’t talk about those things, but I am sure if there is a six-figure brand that she is sponsoring, we would see it, we would hear about it somewhere … and I am just not hearing that.”

Staley, who became one of the highest-paid coaches in women’s basketball when she signed a seven-year, $22.4 million contract extension with South Carolina in October, continues to be a vocal advocate for Black women in sports. “I am into advancing our sport, I am into advancing our sport on all levels, but at the same time, I am also for Black players getting equitable opportunities when it comes to the NIL,” she says. She says she will continue to fight for equality in sports firstly for women and then overall for black student-athletes.