When quarterback Nico Iamaleava signed a national letter of intent to play at Tennessee in December 2022, university-paid attorneys were already preparing to defend his rights to name, image and likeness benefits against the NCAA, reveal internal documents reviewed by Knox News.
UT had spent tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers to look out for the interests of Iamaleava, as well as other athletes in the NIL space, by the time the quarterback enrolled. NIL deals have become a dominant factor in the success of high-level recruiting in college sports − without them, a program can’t land the best players.
By hiring expert help so early, the university got ahead of NCAA investigators who targeted specific schools for breaking NIL rules that ultimately were ruled invalid by a federal court.
It’s an eye-opening revelation that the NCAA investigation which came to light on Jan. 30, was already being anticipated by UT more than year ago.