Two University of Tulsa students, Cooper Legas and Myles Jackson, along with their families, have come forward with a significant claim. They allege that the coaching staff, including former coach Kevin Wilson, made verbal promises of providing tens of thousands of dollars in NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) money to the players. However, these promises were never fulfilled. This situation has left the students and their families disappointed and seeking answers.

Unfulfilled NIL Promises at Tulsa University - A Student's Dilemma

Student's Perspective on NIL Promise

Legas shared his story, stating, "I came here expecting to have, honestly a decent amount of extra money and be able to save and be able to go home with a decent sum of money to start out the real world. But I’ve been living off of what my wife’s been making as a receptionist. The promise of the NIL money was the reason I decided to attend TU in the first place." This shows the significant impact that the unfulfilled promise had on his financial plans.Myles Jackson's mother, Veronica Jackson, also expressed her concerns. She said, "They were using this money as leverage, and then it just kept getting pushed back, pushed back, pushed back. Now the season’s over and no one ever got anything. We are looking for a resolution because it’s a letdown now that the coach has been let go, and no one can give us answers on how they can actually get the money that was promised."

NCAA Interim NIL Policy and Its Implications

According to the NCAA Interim NIL Policy, an NIL agreement between a PSA (Personalized Service Agreement) and a booster/NIL entity may not be guaranteed or promised contingent on initial or continuing enrollment at a particular institution. This policy is in place to ensure fairness and compliance in the NIL landscape. However, in this case, it seems that the coaching staff may have violated this policy.The University of Tulsa's response in a statement was that they continue to provide scholarship and academic support to football student-athletes whose eligibility has expired should they elect to earn their degrees. But they are unaware of any promises of NIL payments made by the former head football coach to student-athletes completing their eligibility.

External Organization's Stance

NewsChannel 8 reached out to Hurrican Impact, a non-profit collective that pays some of TU’s student-athletes. They told us in a statement, "Hurricane Impact has had no contact with any TU football student-athlete, coach Wilson, or any members of his staff regarding partnering with our organization. We will have no further comment." This shows the complexity of the situation as different entities have different stances and no clear resolution seems to be in sight.In conclusion, the NIL promise dispute at Tulsa University has raised many questions and concerns. The students and their families are left waiting for answers, while the university and other involved parties try to navigate through the situation. It remains to be seen how this will be resolved and what impact it will have on the future of NIL at the university.