U of A prepares for changes with the NCAA

Impact of college athletes earning endorsement money anticipated

arkansasrazorbacks.com Whatever the plusses and minuses occur from opening the Pandora’s box of Names, Image and Likeness for college athletes it seems the University of Arkansas has prepared itself and begun preparing its athletes as well it can through unchartered waters. Bowing to the legal pressures that it can no longer profit off collegiate athletes without the athletes having opportunity to earn beyond their scholarships, the NCAA effective last Thursday allowed its athletes to make financial deals off their names, images and likeness to endorse products without jeopardizing their collegiate athletic eligibility.

Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek last May put recently hired senior associate athletic director Terry Prentice, a former decathlete on Coach Chris Bucknam’s Razorbacks men’s track team, in charge of the “Flagship” program that will incorporate the resources of the UA’s Walton School of Business to educate athletes about the opportunities that may await them and the rules they must follow.

“Just as we prepare and train our student-athletes to compete and succeed in the classroom and on the fields of athletics competition, we are committed to positioning them for personal success with the new opportunities associated with Name, Image and Likeness,” Yurachek said last May announcing the Flagship programs.

Like most ambitiously new projects set to right old wrongs, nationally expect some bumps on this new NIL (Names, Image and Likeness) road before it gets clearly paved.

As the only athletic Power Five universities in their states, schools like the University of Arkansas, University of Missouri and University of Nebraska, appear to have one less NIL hurdle than others.

Like for instance the State of Alabama. Auburn University quarterback Bo Nix last Thursday announcing an endorsement deal with Milo’s Sweet Tea caused some University of Alabama Crimson Tide fans holding their own style of the Boston Tea Party publicly pouring Milo’s down the sink.

By Friday Milo’s arranged an endorsement deal with Crimson Tide defensive back Malachi Moore.