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New Details Emerge From Nico Iamaleava NIL Deal That Has Tennessee In Trouble

by Larry Leo

January 31, 202434 Comments

Lawyer Tom Mars, who represents Spyre Sports Group, had detailed the name, image and likeness deal star QB recruit Nico Iamaleava signed that has the Tennessee Volunteers in the NCAA's sights...

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(The Spun)

Filed Under: Tennessee Sports

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MC5601•22 months

This is a great example of how ridiculous the "NIL" world is. Everyone knows that Spyre Sports is the money arm of the Tennessee recruiting machine and we all have to make believe that they have nothing to do with it. No slight on Tenn as this happens everywhere but the whole system is flawed. That and the fact that this guy's name, image, and likeness is likely worth 10% of what he is being paid for. It's straight pay to play and has nothing to do with NIL or a player's ad value

bigDgator•22 months

Paragraph 1, "Independent of the University of Tennessee...."
Paragraph 5, "Spyre sports and the Vol club currently represent over 100 athletes...."

Well which is it?

madmaxvol•22 months

The Vol Club is not operated by the University. It is a group made up of business and fan members to raise NIL money. LINK It is like the NIL Club that LSU has (rather than like the NILSU program).

TheRouxGuru•22 months

‘Iamaleava’ doesn’t sound like a name that I’d expect to stick around one spot for too long

SomeLSUguy•22 months

With that name, I guess we can expect him in the portal a lot.

tigersbb•22 months

Nico is a Walkaway Joe, born to be an Iamaleava, its just a matter of time, Tell you from the word go

Galactic Inquisitor•22 months

Tennessee is still learning what happens when you report Alabama.

Sauron•22 months

The Volunteer Club is closely linked to Spyre Sports Group; the two entities share the same top officers and the same address in Knoxville. Which is gonna make it hard for Tennessee to prove there's no overlap between their recruiting efforts and their use of NIL funds.

jpainter6174•22 months

Prove there is... the burden isn't on them to prove their innocence.

Sauron•22 months

This isn't a criminal case; there's no "innocent until proven guilty" assumption.

LSUNV•22 months

You got it backwards. This isn’t a criminal case. They will have to show proof

Show 3 more replies in this conversation

JakeFromStateFarm•22 months

They can bullshite it any way they’d like. NIL is just pay for play.

TouchdownTony•22 months

The NCAA is trying to get back into the game. No state (California) can just say well, your bylaws don't apply to us. If you are a member of the NCAA the rules apply. You can withdraw from the NCAA and no games will count and you basically wouldn't exist as a member of intercollegiate athletics. I applaud the NCAA here. It's about friggin time they got in the game. NIL in its current form has to be squashed as does the transfer portal.

faraway•22 months

you're ignoring the fact that judges have said that

Masonburden67•22 months

Don’t Tell Jordy that . He believes there should be no rules or guidelines in college football

Drizzt•22 months

Reason number 673 why everyone hates the NCAA and lawyers.

24chevrolet48•22 months

Forgot to say unfair and unethical NIL practices, and Pay for play Fiasco

AtlantaLSUfan•22 months

NIL sucks corruption is already running rampant.

KamaCausey_LSU•22 months

No wonder there's so much NIL money being thrown around. These companies are basically loan sharks. I wonder what % he owes them if he makes the NFL.

OceanMan•22 months

I’ve been saying this for years, this is the NFLs mess. They are now essentially borrowing against NFL earnings. The NFLPA needs to wake up to this and cut these kids in now or the next 10-15 years will be an over leveraged workforce. Start a paid development league so these kids can establish an actual market value.

TFH•22 months

Somehow I doubt that is the entirety of the facts.

soccerfüt•22 months

The 30 for 30* of this will be entitled “Nico and the Man”

*More like 30 Seconds rather than minutes; this whole story is likely to be mostly all forgotten going forward.

CanebreakCajun•22 months

Tennesee paid a freshman qb $2 million last season to throw 45 passes last year. Good for him, bad for Tennessee.

TMRebel•22 months

frick Tom Mars

clamdip•22 months

Simple question: how many of Spyre Sports Group's "clients" attend a school other than Tennessee?

RightWingTiger•22 months

I think we all know the answer.

Deplorable Duke•22 months

Over this assclown?! LMFAO!!!

holmesbr•22 months

This is why I don't understand NIL. I went to public school so I am aware of my limitations. Is the NIL deal with the kid direct or does UT control the money and parcel it out? Like did UT get $20mm worth of money and then look for kids?

hogminer•22 months

Tom Mars is a bitch.

JackieTreehorn•22 months

Imma leava bitch

Salty Morton•22 months

No, you're just a little bitch.