This is the other side of Name, Image and Likeness, the ugly side, the side that was bound to come out.
As money gets tossed around and more boosters and agents get involved, there was bound to be jealousy. There was going to be unhappy players who wanted more money — and it was eventually going to get played out publicly.
In the case of Miami and Isaiah Wong, that’s what’s happening. Thursday night, the New Jersey native and all-ACC player’s agent spoke to ESPN, and demanded his deal with a Miami booster be increased or he would consider a transfer. This came on the heels of the booster, billionaire John Ruiz, paying a transfer, high-scoring guard Nijel Pack of Kansas State, $800,000 over two years plus a car to join the Hurricanes through his company, LifeWallet.
“If Isaiah and his family don’t feel that the NIL number meets their expectations they will be entering the transfer portal [on Friday], while maintaining his eligibility in the NBA draft and going through the draft process,” Wong’s agent, Adam Papas of NEXT Sports Agency, told ESPN. “Isaiah would like to stay at Miami. He had a great season leading his team to the Elite Eight.
“He has seen what incoming Miami Hurricane basketball players are getting in NIL and would like his NIL to reflect that he was a team leader of an Elite Eight team.”
Papas, ironically, represents both players and negotiated a previous deal between Wong and Ruiz.
“Isaiah is under contract,” Ruiz said. “He has been treated by LifeWallet exceptionally well. If that is what he decides, I wish him well, however, I DO NOT renegotiate! I cannot disclose the amount, but what I can say is that he was treated very fairly.”
NIL is the story in college basketball recruiting as transfers are through the roof and players are being compensated handsomely. Multiple coaches told The Post it’s all anyone — recruits, their families, handlers and coaches — wants to talk about when it comes to recruitment.
It hasn’t helped that the NCAA has failed to come up with specific guidelines for NIL and there is uncertainty into what is allowed and what isn’t, and that has created this clear pay-for-play situation at Miami that is being played out in a public forum.