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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 introduced to the agent less than a month ago for the first time
and the agent said he wanted to explore opportunities for his client,"
Sine said. "We informed that he was not registered with the state or with
the school and that he needed to be so the athlete needed to talk to the coaches directly. There was a discussion via email about $3,000 a month of
a recurring payment and then the agent said no we're still discussing,
we'll let you know how things progress, don't onboard my athlete onto your program yet. And that was it. All of this happens in the span of less than
a couple weeks. We never agreed to $100,000, it was never brought to us
that was what the number needed to be. I'm learning about a lot of this
like you guys are.
"The collective is in great shape and has made every payment that it's
needed to make and stood up to every obligation we've been contracted to
do," Sine said. "Everything we do is contracted, we don't do anything
verbally. We have documentation on every deal we do. There was nothing for
this guy. He received $3,000 from us this summer and that was it. We took
care of that."
UNLV released a statement Wednesday afternoon, calling demands from
Sluka's camp a "violation of NCAA pay-for-play rules."
"Football player Matthew Sluka's representative made financial demands
upon the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.
UNLV Athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay- for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law," the statement read. "UNLV
does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats.
UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew
Sluka. UNLV has conducted its due diligence and will continue to operate
its programs within the framework of NCAA rules and regulations, as well
as Nevada state laws."
Sluka, a native of Long Island, did not profile as a high-level transfer
when he left Holy Cross, ranking as the No. 32 quarterback in the portal,
per 247Sports. The players at the top of that list -- Cam Ward, Will
Howard, Riley Leonard -- most likely had NIL agreements in writing, or at
least their agents would have pushed for it.
In a previous interview with CBS Sports' Brandon Marcello explaining his
team's 3-0 start and offseason rebuild, Odom described the process of
landing a commitment from Sluka in January.
"There was nothing binding him to us other than a handshake, and, 'Yeah,
I'm coming,' until he gets to campus," Odom told CBS Sports in a prior interview about his program's 3-0 start and landing Sluka. "And that's the
way the rules were at that time."
There had been recent communication between Sluka's camp and UNLV to
resolve the situation. Sources say Sluka's agents had tried to negotiate
with UNLV, including one offer that would have paid Sluka under 50% of
what he was verbally promised.
Nothing materialized, leading to Sluka's stunning exit.
"I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to
me, which were not upheld after I enrolled," Sluka wrote in a graphic that
was published on his X account. "Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my
teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success
of the program."
Sluka's decision is just the latest example of how unregulated promises in
NIL can derail a team's season. His exit mirrors similar situations, but
for UNLV, the stakes were never higher.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/matthew-sluka-deserts- unlv-unfulfilled-nil-promise-drives-starting-qb-of-undefeated-cfp-hopeful- to-quit/
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