In a statement released on Tuesday, attorney Tom Mars of Spyre Sports Group defended quarterback Nico Iamaleava and the University of Tennessee against the NCAA’s continuing inquiry into UT’s use of name, image, and likeness advantages.
Spyre Sports Group, which enables NIL collectives, has signed over 200 athletes from Tennessee to NIL deals, according to The Volunteer Club website. Iamaleava, the starting quarterback for the Vols, is one of the athletes on the list. He signed a hefty NIL contract with the group.
Iamaleava’s NIL contract with Spyre Sports Group, according to Mars’ statement, was not contingent on the quarterback attending UT and was not influenced by Tennessee.
Tom Mars’s remarks regarding Nico Iamaleava’s NIL contract
“In early 2022, independent of the University of Tennessee or anyone associated with its athletics program, Spyre Sports entered into a mutually beneficial contractual relationship with Nico Iamaleava that involved a limited assignment of his NIL rights, no matter which school he chose to attend,” Mars said in a statement on X, which used to be known Twitter. “These’representation agreements’ are becoming more and more typical. Prospective college athletes are permitted to enter into such agreements, and the parties agreed that California law would govern their contractual rights and obligations.”
Spyre was mandated by the agreement to safeguard Nico’s NIL rights, and it made it clear that ‘nothing in (the) agreement constitutes any sort of enticement to ATHLETE to enroll at any institution and/or join any athletic team.’ To put it briefly, the arrangement had nothing to do with Nico’s recruitment to the University of Tennessee or any other university and was entirely compliant with the NCAA NIL “rules” in place at the time.”
The NCAA met with UT compliance staff members on Monday to discuss allegations the governing body may bring against the university related to NIL. Tennessee confirmed Tuesday that an investigation by the NCAA exists, but the school has not yet received a notice of allegations.
In a scathing email to NCAA President Charlie Baker, UT Chancellor Donde Plowman labeled the NCAA “morally wrong” for its plans to investigate the NIL charges, among other things. Plowman took issue with the NCAA’s application of its changing NIL rules in retrospect.
According to Plowman, the school might be charged with the most serious infraction in the NCAA rulebook—lack of institutional control. Knox News was informed by a person with firsthand knowledge of the matter that UT may be charged with numerous Level I and Level II infractions, and that the charges cover a variety of sports, including football.