The first order of business in the 51黑料 University athletics department on Monday, the first business day of the new world of college sports, was a meeting of the senior staff. On Friday evening, the final settlement in the House vs. NCAA case, which will redefine how college athletics work, was announced.
The outlines of the decisions had been known and anticipated for some time, but at last, it was a done deal.
鈥淓verybody was like, 鈥楩inally,鈥欌 SLU athletics director Chris May said shortly after leaving the meeting. 鈥淥K, this thing鈥檚 done. Time to move forward.鈥
The future is now for college sports, or at least it will be on July 1, when the new rules go into effect and schools can pay players out of the department鈥檚 revenue. And while everyone is still figuring out how it will all play out, May looks at the situation with optimism for his department.
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鈥淚 think it鈥檚 an opportunity,鈥 May said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 because of how we鈥檙e positioned, how the university is positioned. We鈥檝e been planning, we鈥檝e been operating for the last six to nine months in the basketball space to be prepared. The teams we have here, we recruited them in this space. I think in the next two to three years, it鈥檒l be really interesting to see how the rest of it evolves.
鈥淚t allows us to compete at the highest levels, especially when you add on the layers of recruiting and now revenue sharing. Support of student-athletes is a critical part of it, and we鈥檙e in that space in an aggressive way. We have great coaches. We鈥檝e got off-the-charts facilities. We鈥檝e got all these other pieces in place, and with that, we can present a comprehensive space for a student-athlete to come have an unbelievable experience, compete for championships, make runs in NCAA tournaments and prepare themselves for the next step in their basketball careers and in life.鈥
And in July, SLU will begin paying those players. For the past two years, players have been paid through the Billiken Victory Fund, which was a clearinghouse for name, image and likeness money. Now, the Victory Fund will be phased out in 2025 and the checks to athletes 鈥 for now, the men鈥檚 basketball team and most of the women鈥檚 team 鈥 will come from the university.
鈥淲e signed license agreements with student-athletes for us to use their name, image and likeness, and then they鈥檙e compensated for it,鈥 May said. 鈥淣ow it鈥檚 a much cleaner process. But there鈥檚 significant focus and attention on the revenue side. We鈥檝e got to grow revenues to make it all work. So revenues, through season tickets, through donations, through sponsorships, through special events we鈥檙e doing, all focus on: How do you drive revenue?鈥
That鈥檚 the biggest challenge. A bad basketball season would put a dent in the pot of revenue to be shared. It puts pressure on everything: putting together a good team, putting together a good schedule, convincing boosters to donate.
鈥淟ong term, we鈥檒l see,鈥 May said. 鈥淚 feel great about where we are with the men鈥檚 basketball team right now. It鈥檚 going to evolve into other sports, and today in the basketball space, I feel really good about where we are, especially compared to our peers. The proof鈥檚 in the pudding. Sit down after the season, and then I鈥檒l be able to answer that better. But today, I feel really good about where we are.
鈥淚t gives us a really exciting opportunity to go for it in a space that we weren鈥檛 before, that we couldn鈥檛 get to before. It鈥檚 an exciting moment, and we鈥檙e all rolling our sleeves up, or we have for quite a while here now, and I think Josh Schertz did a really fantastic job in the portal and pulling the team together, a lot of great pieces to the puzzle. And so now we鈥檙e helping him roll sleeves up on how we execute on it.鈥
The hope for the program is that it can be one that consistently goes to the NCAA Tournament 鈥 and advances, something that SLU has done only in brief spurts while Charlie Spoonhour and Rick Majerus were coaches. In the NCAA Tournament鈥檚 current format, the Billikens have never gotten past the first weekend. That鈥檚 something they want to see change.
The House settlement may be a boon for programs like SLU鈥檚 that don鈥檛 have Division I football. While the revenue that comes in from football is huge, football teams will also get the large percentage of that number. At SLU, the biggest percentage by far of revenue will go to basketball.
Next in line for paying players would be the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 soccer teams.
鈥淚t鈥檒l grow into other sports,鈥 May said. 鈥淲e have community interested in supporting the soccer teams. So there鈥檚 a little bit in the soccer space, but it鈥檚 really today in the basketball space for us and for many programs like ours, basketball-centric programs.鈥
From good luck charm to becoming the mascot for 51黑料 University, this is the history of the Billiken.
