Photo Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports
In 2004, legendary basketball coach Bob Knight made a powerful statement during a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He brought two items with him: the U.S. Constitution and the NCAA Division I manual. The Constitution was only 15 pages. The NCAA rulebook? A thick, heavy binder filled with thousands of rules.
Knight slammed the rulebook on a table and said, “This is what’s wrong with college athletics.” He believed things had gotten far too complicated. And he wasn’t wrong.
Why the Rulebook Kept Growing
The NCAA’s long list of rules didn’t appear overnight. It grew because people—coaches, players, boosters, administrators, and even shoe companies—kept finding ways around them. The NCAA would respond by simply writing more rules.
At first, players could only receive tuition, room, and board. But that didn’t last. Big money and top talent changed the game.
As Jerry Tarkanian once famously said, “Nine out of 10 schools are cheating. The other is in last place.”
The Wild West of NIL
Things shifted again when athletes were finally allowed to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL). That change brought recruiting deals into the open. Donors and collectives started paying players directly. Critics called it the “Wild West,” but it really just revealed what had been going on under the table for years.
The House v. NCAA Settlement Changes the Game
Last Friday, a judge in California approved the House v. NCAA settlement, marking a big change. Starting soon, schools will be allowed to pay athletes up to $20.5 million per year in shared revenue.
This doesn’t mean athletes are now employees. But it does aim to separate real NIL deals—like Caitlin Clark working with State Farm—from inflated payments for minor promotion, like a million-dollar Instagram post.
Will the New System Actually Work?
While the new system promises structure, college sports history suggests that rule-breaking won’t disappear. Even Kansas coach Bill Self admitted earlier this year that enforcing NIL rules will be “very hard.”
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips echoed that, calling college sports “an unregulated environment with no rules and no enforcement.”
More Parity Under NIL
One surprising benefit of the NIL era? More balance in college sports. Football and men’s basketball saw more teams from different regions rise as contenders. School brand and geography mattered less. Talent was more evenly spread.
And, for once, the payments weren’t hidden—no secret bags of cash, no fake jobs, and no FBI raids over shoe deals.
“I don’t want it to get where they put it back under the table,” said Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson back in March. “Let’s keep everything above. Let’s keep everything on the table.”
A New Challenge: Who Sets a Player’s Value?
But how do you decide what a college athlete is worth if they’re not an employee? If someone wants to pay a softball player $1.2 million, who has the right to question it? Legal challenges could be coming fast.
And if schools hit the new $20.5 million “salary cap,” will they accept the limit—or look for workarounds?
Leaders Promise Real Change—but Can They Deliver?
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark says this time will be different. “Our schools want rules, and we are providing rules, and we will be governed by those rules,” he said. “If you break those rules, the ramifications will be punitive.”
But many coaches, speaking off the record, don’t believe the rules will hold.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said every coach he’s spoken to wants more structure. “I have sat in meeting rooms with each of our coaches’ groups. “And I’ve asked … ‘If you want an unregulated, open system, just raise your hand and let me know.’ And universally the answer is, ‘No, we want oversight, we want guardrails, we want structure,” he said.
Still, wanting rules and following them are two different things.
Winning Still Matters Most
At the end of the day, if a player helps a school win games, bring in money, and grow the brand, people will push the limits. Coaches want job security. Fans want wins. Boosters want bragging rights.
Even with the new rules, NIL deals, booster collectives, agents, and backdoor deals are still active.
Can the NCAA Control It This Time?
The NCAA couldn’t stop illegal payments in the past. Can it control this new system?
“It isn’t going to be perfect,” Phillips admitted. “But we’re committed to progress: learning, adapting, strengthening the model to support and protect college sports.”
That’s how the old rulebook grew—adding rule after rule to fix every issue. Now, NIL’s free-for-all era is ending.
We’ve got new rules. But it’s still the same old game.
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This report used information from ESPN.
