We’re approaching an incredibly important day for Tennessee athletics and the greater college athletics landscape as a whole. On Monday, Judge Claudia Wilkins will hear arguments during a approval hearing on the house settlement.
The consolidated settlement for three antitrust lawsuits— House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA, and Carter v. NCAA— will have longstanding ramifications on the college athletics landscape.
Most notably, colleges will be able to directly pay its student athletes if Judge Wilkins approves the settlement. The direct amount that universities will pay its student-athletes is uncertain but the expectation is that there will be a maximum of $23.1 million available to pay student-athletes at any given school this first season.
If approved, “NIL” will become much different. Power five schools hired Deloitte to audit all NIL deals. The goal is to make athletic departments prove agreements between student-athletes and businesses are legimate after the house settlement is approved.
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That part is important in the college basketball world with the transfer portal on fire currently. The current rules allow student-athletes to enter into NIL agreements that pay them large sums of money without already agreed on deals with businesses. If, and when, the house settlement passes, those deals will be audited. That’s leading basketball programs to wrap up commitments and get NIL deals agreed to under the current rules so the money they’re agreeing to pay players won’t cost against the the school’s, theoretical, $23.1 million cap across all sports.
The house settlement will also increase scholarship limits in all three sports. The ruling would not force conferences and schools to add more scholarships but would no longer cap scholarship limits at its current spot.
Monday’s hearing has one other potential impact on Tennessee men’s basketball. There’s a possibility that the proposed rule to give all student-athletes five years of eligibility will be voted on and approved. If that’s the case, Tennessee seniors Zakai Zeigler, Jahmai Mashack, Jordan Gainey and Igor Milicic could have an extra year of eligibility.
Most experts believe that the fifth year rule will pass at some point but it’s unlikely that it will happen in time to affect this current group of seniors.
The approval hearing for the house settlement begins at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, April 7. The public can watch the hearing here.
