New Series Looks at College Sports Shakeup: Transfer Rules, Money, and Conference Fighting

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has launched a new series, College Sports Chaos, to dissect this shifting and chaotic environment of college athletics. The series will include issues relevant to competitive programs like UNLV's, including the transfer portal, NIL, conference changes, and legal implications.

The NCAA transfer portal has emerged as a huge part of college sports. It gives athletes more freedom but generally sacrifices academic consistency, sometimes causing them to lose up to 70% of their credits upon transfer. UNLV experienced this directly after the dismissal of coach Kevin Kruger. Eight players, including leading point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., entered the portal. Thomas Jr. went on to transfer to LSU and has secured a much larger NIL deal.

NIL agreements have introduced a new dynamic, predominantly benefiting athletes at Power Four schools, leaving Group of Five programs like UNLV disadvantaged. This difference was evident in the transfer of Thomas Jr., and it shows the problem for smaller programs in keeping talent.

Legal changes are also likely to shape college athletics. A $2.8 billion settlement proposal in the House v. NCAA case would allow schools to share up to $20.5 million annually with athletes starting in the 2025–26 academic year. However, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken has delayed final approval, citing concerns over potential roster caps that could displace student-athletes.

Conference realignments add another layer of complexity. The Mountain West and Pac-12 conferences are embroiled in a $55 million dispute over poaching fees after five Mountain West schools announced plans to join the Pac-12 in September 2024. This conflict may affect future media rights negotiations and conference affiliation stability.

Amid this chaos, UNLV's athletic future is still unclear. For UNLV to be considered for a Power Four conference, for example, they need successful football and men's basketball programs. New men's basketball coach Josh Pastner is doing what he can to utilize the transfer portal and rebuild the new roster.  Pastner has added players like Ladji Dembele and Emmanuel Stephen.

Still, the women's teams also face challenges, as several key players have entered the portal, which demonstrates the challenges the women's program is facing.