"Why are we being singled out?": Joel Klatt claims Tennessee has been isolated in recent NIL violations controversy surrounding NCAA

The University of Tennessee's athletic program has been under investigation by the NCAA for alleged violations in NIL recruitment recently.

If found guilty, Tennessee is at risk of receiving a large penalty, especially because of its past violations. In the summer of 2023, the university was found guilty of 200 violations surrounding its football program.

This story has set the college sports and political world alight, with the State of Tennessee filing a federal lawsuit against the NCAA over their actions to “single out” the university. This sentiment, that Tennessee has been singled out, is shared by many, including Joel Klatt, who said the following on his show today:

“Tennessee is asking, ‘why are we being singled out?’ because they’re not doing anything that everyone else isn’t doing.”

Why is Tennessee being investigated?

The reason why Tennessee is being investigated surrounds the signing of Nico Iamaleava, a 5-star quarterback prospect. According to a USA Today report, Iamaleava was recruited by the Volunteers and, alongside this, signed an NIL deal with Spyre, a sports marketing agency, that allegedly helped pay for his visits to Knoxville, something that violates NCAA rules.

But Iamaleava is not the only one who did this. There are 100s of athletes who signed to Spyre and then declared for the Volunteers. This scenario also played out in other schools as well, like with Jaden Rashada in Florida.

These dealings were, at the time, legal, according to the vague wording from the NCAA on the rules surrounding the NIL. The NCAA later changed the rules on this issue, empathizing that the NIL should not be used as a recruitment tool.

This recent change is why Tennessee is being investigated. But Klatt argues that, if Tennessee is being investigated for this, why aren't other universities being investigated for the same issue?

The state of California, Iamaleava's home state, was the first to allow high school players to make money off their NIL deals. This may mean that any player from California, the most populous state, who signed an NIL deal before heading to college, is not in violation of any rules. Additionally, any university that signed a California-based player, like Tennessee did, is not in violation of the then-rules set by the NCAA and should not be investigated.

Read:

We need to deal with the big picture": SEC boss Greg Sankey slams NCAA amid collegiate body's probe on Tennessee's alleged NIL violation

What should the NCAA do going forward?

Tennessee is, so far, the only school being investigated for breaches of rules that were vague or didn't exist when the deals were made. Klatt suggests that this is the reason why the Volunteers have been treated unfairly, and something has to be done to sort the issue out.

A suggestion would be to give everyone a clean slate and to create a clear set of rules that every athletics program needs to follow or face repercussions.

What is being seen with Tennessee right now is a selective implementation of rules, punishing them for an alleged crime that other programs have done as well.

Read:

Three words NCAA, not for long": Rich Eisen warns NCAA over NIL rules as Greg Sankey and SEC team up with Big Ten to form new alliance