Here’s Why Trae Young, Steph Curry And Other Pros Are Going Back To School

Name: Here’s Why Trae Young, Steph Curry And Other Pros Are Going Back To School
Uploaded: 2025-06-09T14:46:25+00:00
Duration: 4 min 37 s
Channel: Forbes

Forbes

2 days ago

Amid the NIL gold rush, college sports programs seeking an edge with top talent are reuniting with star alumni—and sending them out on the recruiting trail.

Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2025/05/22/ncaa-nil-trae-young-stephen-curry/

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00:01Today on Forbes, here's why Trae Young, Steph Curry, and other pros are going back to school.

00:08In April, as the NBA regular season was barreling towards its conclusion, Atlanta Hawks guard Terrence Mann had more on his mind than his team's push for a playoff spot.

00:19The basketball program at his alma mater, Florida State University, had won only 17 games and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

00:28And Mann wanted to help.

00:30So he chipped in with recruiting, connecting the team with guard Martin Somerville, a transfer prospect from the University of Massachusetts, whom he knew from off-season workouts, and eventually steering Somerville to Tallahassee.

00:44Luke Locks, who was hired as Florida State's coach in March, says, quote,

00:49Martin Somerville is going to play a lot for us next year.

00:52Without Terrence, we had no shot at getting him, and we beat out some really big schools that were willing to pay way more in NIL to get him.

01:01The NIL that Locks is referring to stands for name, image, and likeness.

01:06In the four years since the NCAA begrudgingly began to allow its athletes to profit off their NIL, big-time college sports have quickly become a bidding war for top players.

01:17In addition to the branded social media posts and local television commercials that rulesmakers might have envisioned when they opened the doors to commercial deals for athletes on campus,

01:27boosters have pooled their resources and formed collectives to funnel money to recruits, nominally for marketing services, but in practice, often a thinly-veiled form of pay-for-play.

01:38Three antitrust lawsuits, House v. NCAA, Hubbard v. NCAA, and Carter v. NCAA, are currently awaiting court approval for a settlement that would inject even more money into the system,

01:52enabling universities to directly pay athletes a share of their media, ticket, and sponsorship revenue,

01:57and effectively ending college sports' commitment to amateurism.

02:01For example, according to the Houston Chronicle, the University of Texas plans to spend $35 to $40 million on its football roster next season

02:10between its NIL payouts and the revenue-sharing payments, which are expected to be capped initially at $20.5 million.

02:19Already, however, programs' price tags are eye-popping.

02:22Last July, Ohio State's athletic director told the Columbus Dispatch that the school's football players

02:28had received roughly $20 million in NIL deals over the previous year through a variety of third parties.

02:35Naturally, not every university has the wherewithal to keep up, and even the ones that do are fighting for a competitive edge.

02:42A handful of institutions believe they have found an answer that goes beyond dollars and cents.

02:47All-star alumni like Mann, a six-year NBA veteran who played for the Florida State Seminoles from 2015 to 2019.

02:54In April, Mann officially rejoined Florida State as assistant general manager of the men's basketball program.

03:02He will not be an FSU employee or be paid for his role, but he will be expected to play a part in player development as well as recruiting.

03:10Mann, who is 28 years old, says,

03:12A month before Mann started his new side hustle, Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry paved the way by becoming the assistant general manager

03:34for the men's and women's basketball teams at his alma mater, Davidson College,

03:40billed as the first time an active athlete from a major North American sports league

03:44had accepted an administrative role with an NCAA program.

03:48Three weeks later, Trey Young, Mann's teammate on the NBA's Atlanta Hawks,

03:53went back to the University of Oklahoma in a similar role,

03:56and Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Max Crosby followed in April by taking a position

04:01with Eastern Michigan University's football program.

04:03And this doesn't even include former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck,

04:08who became Stanford football's general manager in November, five years after retiring from the NFL.

04:15For full coverage, check out Justin Birnbaum's piece on Forbes.com.

04:20This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:23Thanks for tuning in.