Topline
The starting quarterback of the undefeated University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) football program said late Tuesday he won’t suit up again for the program, reportedly due to a dispute over a payment allegedly guaranteed to him to transfer to the school, a jarring move in college athletics’ new era of name, image and likeness, which allows student athletes to get paid by third parties.
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka in a game this month against Kansas.
Key Facts
Sluka announced on social media he will sit out the remainder of the 2024 season, vaguely referencing “certain representations” made to him when he committed to play for UNLV that were “not upheld” as the impetus for his decision.
Sluka never received a $100,000 payment allegedly verbally offered to him by a UNLV assistant coach to be paid by a third-party organization, Sluka’s agent, former NFL cornerback Marcus Cromartie, told the Associated Press.
Cromartie told ESPN his client was later offered $3,000 a month over a four-month period, totalling only $12,000, while the quarterback’s father Bob Sluka told the Athletic that UNLV head coach Barry Odom “refused to give us the money” promised.
“I think Matt felt lied to…he just wanted to stand up for himself,” Cromartie explained to the AP.
A spokesperson for UNLV’s football program did not immediately return Forbes’ request for comment.
Key Background
The dispute underscores the nascent college athletics name, image and likeness (NIL) landscape, which has been likened to the “Wild West” after legal changes allowed student athletes to get indirectly paid beginning in 2021. Schools don’t pay direct salaries to athletes, but so-called NIL collectives, which pool together money from alumni backers, often offer paydays to high school recruits or college transfers to join teams, an extension of the NIL rule change which initially was designed to let athletes profit off of endorsements and advertising. In the case of Sluka, UNLV’s NIL collective reportedly never knew of the $100,000 commitment, but did pay Sluka an unrelated $3,000 fee, a representative of the organization, Rob Sine, told ESPN.
Tangent
The departure of Sluka comes amidst one of the anticipated seasons in UNLV football history. Sluka, who spent the 2020 to 2023 seasons at FCS school Holy Cross, was the team’s leading passer and rusher through three games, leading the team to upset road wins against Big 12 opponents Houston and Kansas. The strong start lifted UNLV to its first-ever top 25 ranking in the coaches’ poll, sitting at No. 23, while it is the fourth honorable mention on the more widely used AP Top 25. UNLV has a legitimate chance at securing its first-ever berth to the College Football Playoff, which will award one of its 12 finalist spots to the highest-ranked champion in the “Group of Five” lower-tier conferences including UNLV’s Mountain West division. UNLV is the second-highest ranked Group of Five team in the AP poll, trailing only conference rival Boise State. A former All-American in the FCS subdivision of Division I football, Sluka helped Holy Cross to an undefeated regular season and FCS quarterfinal appearance in 2022. A Locust Valley, N.Y. native, Sluka attended Kellenberg Memorial High School on Long Island and the Peddie School in New Jersey before college, accounting for 101 touchdowns across his pre-college career.
