College football has seen unprecedented levels of seismic change over the last couple of years, but what has transpired in Las Vegas might just take the cake.
UNLV’s starting quarterback, Matthew Sluka, announced that he is taking a redshirt year and leaving the program amidst broken NIL promises.
Matthew Sluka has UNLV off to their best start in 40 years (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)Getty
“I have decided to utilise my redshirt year and will not be playing in any additional games this season,” Sluka wrote via a post on X.
“I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled. Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future.
“I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.”
Sluka had led the Rebels to a 3-0 start, including two wins over Power 4 teams in Kansas and Houston.
He has them squarely in contention for the Group of 5’s playoff spot and even helped the Rebels land a spot in the USA Today coaches poll for the first time in the program’s history.
So what went wrong? Why leave a good thing in such abrupt fashion?
Promises made were made and promises were broken, allegedly.
Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, Sluka’s NIL representation, told ESPN that a UNLV assistant coach verbally promised Sluka $100,000 to transfer there.
Sluka is understood to have transferred to UNLV from Holy Cross over the summer with the understanding that he would be receiving a six-figure payday when he showed up.
Sluka did not receive that, an alleged $100,000 broken promise.
Sluka originally enrolled at UNLV in July after transferring from Holy Cross (Photo by Kyle Rivas/Getty Images)
The school and collective is said to have instead offered Sluka a contract of $3,000 per month for four months per Cromartie.
That’s $12,000 in total. In other words, $88,000 less than what Sluka was reportedly initially promised.
That of course is Sluka’s side of the story, coming from his representation.
The reality is, the facts have not come out, and they most likely never will.
Did UNLV promise Sluka 100 grand and then baulk when he showed up? It’s possible.
Or did Sluka ask for more money as his stock rose? Also possible.
In most cases, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
This is another prime example of why having employment contracts between athletes and their schools would solve all of these problems.
Until then, it will always be a he said, she said back and forth.
This all goes to show just how drastic the change has been for college athletics. Paying student-athletes was complete heresy and blasphemy only a couple of years ago.
Now athletes are leaving their teams in the middle of the season because of NIL disagreements.
Welcome to the Wild West that is college football.
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