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Rivals rankings director and national transfer portal analyst Adam Friedman is joined by national recruiting director Adam Gorney, Ryan Young of TrojanSports.com, and Parker Thune of OUInsider.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
1. Matthew Sluka was right to take his redshirt year when UNLV didn’t follow through on his promised NIL deal.
Friedman: FACT. Whether we like it or not college football is big business, and if your employer decided to withhold money that you were promised then you would want to stop working, too. That’s the situation Matthew Sluka found himself in this week at UNLV. After being promised $100,000 to transfer and play for UNLV, he led the Rebels to an undefeated start, but was told there was no chance that he would receive the money that was promised to him. News came out on Friday that Circa CEO Derek Stevens even tried to give UNLV the money to pay Sluka, but he was turned down.
Sluka won’t be the top quarterback in the transfer portal in December but he will have plenty of options and will certainly get paid what he is worth. He isn’t a major NFL prospect at quarterback, so this is likely his only chance to get paid for playing football. Sluka was absolutely right to redshirt and make sure he earned his money before his playing career was over.
Gorney: FACT. If we’re operating off the premise that Sluka was promised $100,000 from a coach at UNLV and he was strung along and it was never paid because the contract was not in writing, then yes, Sluka was absolutely right to pull himself away from the team. I am not wild about the starting quarterback of a team with legitimate playoff potential leaving over money but if he was blatantly lied to then all bets are off. No coach at UNLV would work for no money. No professor would, either. So why should the starting QB who was apparently promised money that never came, if that’s the true story? It’s a terrible situation and an awful time for it to come to a head but Sluka did what he felt was right considering the circumstances.
MORE SLUKA: UNLV QB opts out over NIL dispute | This wouldn’t be the first time a coach lied to a player during recruiting process
2. Bear Alexander will transfer after this season.
Friedman: FACT. If there’s a foolproof way to submarine your college football career, Alexander has found it. The once heralded defensive line prospect played at four different high schools and it looks like he will move onto his third college after this season. It’s incredible that Alexander and his representative, Tony Jones, have tried to increase their demands in NIL compensation after how he’s played this year. According to PFF, all of his defensive grades so far this season are worse than his previous two college seasons so it’s not like he is a major difference maker on the defensive line. Somehow Alexander and Jones think it’s the right move to try to gouge more money out of USC‘s collective. Head coach Lincoln Riley refused to talk to the media about Alexander‘s decision to redshirt and it seems they are ready for him to find a new team after the season.
Young: FACT. I don’t think there’s even a question at this point, given the continued commentary on Twitter from Alexander’s father/guardian/mentor Tony Jones lobbing shots at USC and the fact that Lincoln Riley clearly felt blindsided by Alexander’s decision to sit out the rest of the season and wouldn’t even take questions about it Thursday. The ship has sailed, USC is moving on both in the short-term and big picture, and Alexander will hit the reset button on his football career yet again.
3. With five of its top receivers out for the Auburn game, Oklahoma should be worried about opt-outs.
Friedman: FICTION. Players are allowed to play in four games and still take their redshirt year. With most teams getting set to play their fifth game of the season, there have been a rash of announcements from players that they’ll be taking their redshirt (or opting out of the rest of the season) for one reason or another. Five of Oklahoma’s top receivers are out for the game this weekend against Auburn and, from the outside looking in, the timing may look a bit suspicious.That being said, Oklahoma has suffered a number of injuries to the receiving corps and it would be surprising if these players decided they wanted to opt out of the rest of the season and enter the transfer portal in December. There was so much excitement about the potential of this Oklahoma offense prior to the season and it seems unlikely that these players would become so disheartened with how the offense has performed thus far that they’d want to find another team.
Thune: FICTION. Oklahoma is in no imminent danger of losing any players to the transfer portal, at least midseason. All five of its top receivers are dealing with legitimate injuries, all with varying levels of severity. While they’re unquestionably decimated, the Sooners have a very well-organized and efficient NIL operation that hasn’t hit any real in-season snags thus far, and there are no issues in that department. There may very well be a reckoning coming with regard to the OU medical staff. But none of the issues that are keeping players off the field right now have anything to do with NIL or intent to proactively redshirt.
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