Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals have transformed college athletics by allowing athletes to earn money off their personal brand for the first time in NCAA history. But while the move has been widely celebrated, not everyone is convinced it’s all positive. Shaquille O’Neal has been one of the more vocal critics of the move.
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NIL has enabled college athletes to make millions of dollars without having to go pro. This has led to them having more freedom to hone their skills, spend more time in college while not worrying about financial problems.
Despite his gripe with NIL, Shaq recently posted an image showcasing the biggest earners in college sports on his Instagram story. The list is topped by 19-year-old Arch Manning, quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Manning makes $6.6 million from his NIL deals. In second place, Cooper Flagg of the Duke Blue Devils makes $4.8 million.
These two athletes combined have an NIL valuation of $11.4 million. Before his freshman year at Duke, Flagg signed a shoe deal with New Balance. He has also partnered with brands like Gatorade and Fanatics. Flagg has declared for the 2025 NBA Draft and is likely to be the number one pick this year. According to Bleacher Report’s recent Mock Draft, Flagg is slated to be picked by the Charlotte Hornets.
Shaq on IG pic.twitter.com/vsXvcoxzcm
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) April 24, 2025
As for Shaq’s issues with the NIL landscape, he believes that it’ll lead to players losing the urge to ‘make it out the mud.’ Earlier, aspiring professional athletes used to put a lot of time into their high school and college camps to be the best they could be. That would later translate into them becoming top prospects, as it was their only way out to make it big in life.
Now, players make millions of dollars in their teenage years. The big fella believes that it sets the wrong precedent for young athletes because they don’t have a lot of incentive to take the risk of moving from college sports to a professional league.
“NIL, I think, is definitely gonna hurt people. For people that have nothing, when you get something, it takes the pressure off. But that something should be the final prize. The final prize should be the NBA,” Shaq said on his podcast.
Shaq is already seeing the effects of NIL deals and how they’re changing the culture of professional sports in the country. He said, “I feel sorry for the high school kid because back in our time, the high school kids were highly sought after. But now, with everybody going into the transfer portal, you get coaches like Rick Patino saying, ‘I’m not even looking at high school kids anymore. I’m just going to the portal.’ So, I kind of feel sorry for them.”
If his fears turn out to be true, the real impact of NIL deals will be seen in the next few years. For now, young athletes in their teenage years are seemingly over the moon with the millions of dollars they are making through endorsements.
