Randy Levine details college sports’ ‘wild west’ amid NIL chaos
New York Yankees President Randy Levine, Vice Chair of ‘Saving College Sports’ Board, joins Brian Kilmeade to break down the ‘Wild West’ of college sports. Levine highlights the escalating issues of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, the chaotic transfer portal, and athlete eligibility impacting student-athletes. He details the financial strain on universities and President Trump’s efforts to find legislative solutions, hoping for a bipartisan fix within 90 days.
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The NCAA has been a bit of a mess as of late.
Between players getting popped for sports betting scandals and guys in their mid-20s eschewing both the professional ranks and the workforce to stay in college, Van Wilder style, it’s hard not to be black-pilled about the current state of college sports.
Brendan Sorsby of the Cincinnati Bearcats laughs during warmups before their game against the Utah Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
Speaking of which, we saw yet another case of a college basketball team tapping into the pro ranks to land a player, as the LSU Tigers and head coach Will Wade signed G League guard RJ Luis Jr. earlier on Tuesday.
Luis comes to the Tigers by way of the Maine Celtics, the G League affiliate of the Boston Celtics, and was previously undrafted out of St. John’s, where he won Big East Player of the Year a season prior.
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To give LSU even a shred of benefit of the doubt here, the Tigers didn’t sign Luis in the middle of the season fresh off a G League roster to try and bolster a tournament, so this isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison to the infamous Charles Bediako fiasco that took place in Tuscaloosa earlier this year.
Charles Bediako of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts during the second half in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at KFC YUM! Center against the San Diego State Aztecs on March 24, 2023, in Louisville, Ky. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
He was, however, signed to a professional team, and is currently ineligible to play for the Tigers this coming season, so he will have to file a lawsuit to resume his college career.
While this isn’t quite as bad as the aforementioned situation that took place with Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide, the signing of Luis by LSU has many people wondering where the line will be drawn when it comes to collegiate basketball.
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It truly feels like the Wild West in collegiate athletics right now, and basketball seems to be the tip of the spear when it comes to bending the rules.
It’s tough to say whether Luis will be ruled eligible or not, but if he gets the green flag, the floodgates will open for college hoops programs across the country to try and sign as many undrafted free agents and G League players as they can.
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St. John’s guard RJ Luis Jr. and guard Kadary Richmond sit on the bench during the second half of a second-round NCAA Tournament game against Arkansas at Amica Mutual Pavilion on March 22, 2025. (Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images)
If you’re a big college sports fan and you’re worried about the sport falling down a slippery slope, I’d go ahead and toss those fears out the window, because we seem to already be at the bottom of Mount Everest.
Whether or not we can ever climb back to the summit remains to be seen, but I’m not going to get my hopes up anytime soon.