Pat McAfee Makes NIL Offer To Entire Indiana State Men's Basketball Team
The Indiana State Sycamores got hosed by the NCAA Selection Committee. And Pat McAfee won't stand for it.
Indiana State put together an impressive 28-6 season, but lost to Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference title game. So instead of an at-large bid to the Big Dance, all the Sycamores have to show for their regular season success is a No. 1 seed in the NIT.
On Thursday, the team's star center Robbie Avila — respectfully known as "Cream Abdul-Jabbar" — went on ESPN's Pat McAfee Show to avenge the snub with a one-on-one basketball game against a random guy that McAfee chose to represent the NCAA. Not shockingly, Avila won.
"They left us out. That one hurt," he said.
(Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Still, Avila and the Sycamores have to make the best of their situation in the NIT. And it just so happened that McAfee decided to sweeten the pot.
"If you guys win the NIT, we’ll give 10 grand to everybody," McAfee told Avila. "You guys will all get a $10,000 sponsorship from The Pat McAfee Show, in which you just have to put out something on your social media about the program.
"That is an open deal to the Indiana State Sycamore team. You win the NIT, everybody’s getting 10 grand a post."
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Sounds like a sweet offer, except it's against NCAA policy. So producer Boston Connor reminded McAfee that NIL deals can’t be incentive-based.
"The day after the NIT championship, we will meet again about a potential sponsorship for everybody on your roster," McAfee corrected himself. "OK, that sounds good. We just did it."
The Sycamores won their first-round NIT game, 101-92, against SMU.
Assuming the NCAA doesn't put the kibosh on McAfee's incentive-based loophole, that means the men of Indiana State are one step closer to holding up their end of the bargain.
They'll host the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Terre Haute.