Is This the End for the NCAA?

The saga of Jaden Rashada, one of the nation’s top football recruits, has illuminated what the future of NCAA might look like.
The saga of Jaden Rashada, one of the nation’s top football recruits, has illuminated what the future of NCAA might look like. Photo: James Gilbert/Getty Images
Eriq Gardner
February 13, 2023

College sports, as we once knew it, are finished. That’s the clear takeaway from the saga of 19-year-old Jaden Rashada, one of the nation’s top football recruits. Last summer, Rashada reportedly signed a $14 million NIL (“name, image and likeness”) contract with the Gator Collective, an unaffiliated booster club at the University of Florida. But when the club essentially reneged on the deal, Rashada ditched Florida for Arizona State. Until recently, of course, this bizarre recruiting adventure would have been unprecedented, not to mention illegal, under NCAA rules. But college sports have become a legal Wild West ever since players began agitating for compensation. Staggering multi-million dollar commitments and loophole-ridden contracts are just a preview of the chaotic changes to come.