Barry Odom was up early on Wednesday. He’d already digested the news — as well as he could — that his starting quarterback, Matthew Sluka, had bailed three games into the season.
“Thought he had a market value higher than he was making here,” UNLV’s coach texted in the early morning gloom, at least around the Rebels’ football office.
Sluka — veteran of one month of FBS football, on-field leader of an undefeated team ranked for the first time in program history with eyes on a College Football Playoff bid — had taken his talents elsewhere. Sluka will be a redshirt senior in 2025 and can conceivably test the market once again. Leaving before playing four games allows him to keep a redshirt season. His decision is unprecedented in its scope, according to those who have endured the three-year, two-month history of NIL.
Money — the allure of it and, depending on which side you talk to, perhaps the unfulfilled delivery of it — is central to the story that shook college football on Wednesday morning.
ESPN reported that Sluka was verbally promised a minimum of $100,000 from a UNLV assistant coach. Multiple sources tell CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz that Sluka had not received any NIL money from UNLV. A crux of the breakdown was the fact that whatever Sluka believed he was promised by UNLV was not outlined in writing before Sluka arrived as a coveted transfer from Holy Cross.
One source close to Sluka, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the only money he received from UNLV was a player stipend.
An NIL agent described Sluka’s camp not having an agreement in writing as “catastrophic.”
Rob Sine, the CEO of Blueprint Sports, which operates UNLV’s collective, told CBS Sports it had not agreed to a $100,000 figure with Sluka.
“We were…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/matthew-sluka-deserts-unlv-unfulfilled-nil-promise-drives-starting-qb-of-undefeated-cfp-hopeful-to-quit/
Author : Dennis Dodd
Publish date : 2024-09-25 16:50:51
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