‘We need to do it the right way’: What K-State AD Gene Taylor tells donors about NIL
Kansas State athletics director Gene Taylor has held many conversations with boosters and collectives about the roles they are expected to play in arranging NIL deals for student-athletes as the NCAA has struggled to enforce rules in that area over the past year.
He can summarize his advice to them in one sentence.
“We need to be in the game,” Taylor said, “but we need to do it the right way.”
For that reason, Taylor has urged K-State supporters to resist making contact with any recruits or transfers until they have signed scholarship papers with the Wildcats and have arrived on campus, especially after the NCAA issued new guidelines last week.
That approach has led to NIL (short for name, image and likeness) endorsemen contracts for many current and former K-State athletes.
Running back Deuce Vaughn, defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah and volleyball player Aliyah Carter recently filmed a commercial for Cat Cans Portable Services. Quarterback Skylar Thompson promoted a car dealership last season. Women’s basketball star Ayoka Lee landed a deal with Wingstop. Three walk-ons are also now receiving the monetary value of a football scholarship.
And fans can now purchase custom K-State jerseys that show off the name of their favorite player, while said player gets a cut of the sale.
But Nijel Pack also left K-State for Miami and landed a massive NIL deal worth $800,000 as a member of the Hurricanes’ basketball team. The Wildcats also missed out on Detroit transfer Antoine Davis when he opted to return to his previous school with the assistance of a potentially lucrative NIL deal.
It’s difficult for anyone to know exactly how aggressive the Wildcats need to be in this new space.
Taylor has no problem sharing his thoughts on the matter.
“We tell our donors a couple things,” Taylor said. “First off, ‘You’re not going to be used as a recruiting tool, because you can’t be.’ However, when the kids get here on campus we want to be able to tell them, ‘We have groups out there that want to help you with name, image and likeness and here’s how you contact them.’”
From there, he hopes K-State athletes sign deals that reflect their contributions to their respective teams.
“The way it was handled last year with Deuce and Skylar and Ayoka and whoever else had deals, that’s the right way,” Taylor said. “You earn money off of earned reputation as opposed of a kid coming right out of high school and no one knows who they are. To me, they should have to come in and do something for their name, image and likeness.”
He was shocked when he learned how much Pack earned before playing a single game at Miami.
“Nijel is a great kid and a great player,” Taylor said. “But that is a lot of money to a kid who hasn’t stepped foot on your court.”
A pair of collectives have been formed in the past month to help arrange NIL deals for K-State student-athletes.
Neither of them required much guidance from Taylor. Both are in regular contact with K-State’s compliance office. Aaron Lockett, a former football player who co-founded The Wildcats’ Den, said his collective hasn’t been in communication with a single recruit.
“If there is a student-athlete on campus they should be eligible for everything,” Lockett said. “If they’re off campus and not quite a student of the university you can speak about the platforms that you have in place, but you can’t guarantee them that they’re going to get a certain amount until they become an actual student. We leave those conversations to the coaches. I’m not sure that any university would want anybody talking to their recruits other than themselves.
“We don’t approach anybody that’s not on campus. Our target audience is student-athletes at Kansas State today. They are 100% within the lines. High school kids don’t have any impact with us.”
Another fascinating subject: How will NIL deals impact fundraising for athletic departments across the nation?
Facilities used to be all the rage in recruiting. Perhaps some of that money is now better spent on NIL deals for student-athletes. If that’s the case, can schools expect fewer donations in the future?
That remains to be seen. For now, Taylor is urging K-State boosters to continue donating to the athletic department while also supporting NIL. He thinks the Wildcats need strong support in both areas to succeed.
So far, he has few complaints.
“I’m sure we’ve lost a kid or two because somebody at another school isn’t doing things the right way,” Taylor. “But we’re still getting good kids.”
This story was originally published May 13, 2022 at 2:15 PM with the headline "‘We need to do it the right way’: What K-State AD Gene Taylor tells donors about NIL."