Matthew Sluka’s NIL dispute with UNLV hinges on verbal offer

UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka left the undefeated Rebels on Tuesday night over claims of unfulfilled verbal NIL promises from a UNLV assistant coach, a decision that illuminates the fragility of the current collegiate system and how talent is procured and retained.

Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie, told ESPN that UNLV didn’t come through on a verbal offer of $100,000 from an assistant coach. The quarterback’s father, Bob Sluka, told ESPN that head coach Barry Odom later said in a phone conversation the offer wasn’t valid because it didn’t come from him, but rather from offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who declined to comment to ESPN.

UNLV said Wednesday in a statement that Sluka’s “representative made financial demands upon the University and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.”

“UNLV Athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law,” the school said in its statement. “UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.

“UNLV has conducted its due diligence and will continue to operate its programs within the framework of NCAA rules and regulations, as well as Nevada state laws.”

UNLV’s collective did pay Sluka one $3,000 fee for an engagement he attended this summer, according to Rob Sine, who runs Blueprint Sports, a company that manages the collective. Sine said Sluka’s agents first made contact with the collective in late August to discuss future opportunities to work together.

Sine said he wasn’t aware of any promises to pay Sluka $100,000 and that Sluka had not contacted the collective about missing payments as far as he knew.

The Friends of UNLV collective reiterated in a statement that there were “no formal NIL offers made during Mr. Sluka’s recruitment process,” and that the collective did not “agree to any NIL offers while he was part of the team, aside from a completed community engagement event over the summer.”

The decisions come at a compelling moment for UNLV, as the Rebels are 3-0 and ranked No. 23 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, marking the first time the program has been ranked in any major poll in history.

UNLV defeated Big 12 programs Houston and Kansas with Sluka at quarterback, and hosts Fresno State on Saturday in its Mountain West Conference opener. The Rebels’ home game the following Friday night against Syracuse has become among the most anticipated in recent school history.

UNLV also is involved in the process of deciding its conference future between the Pac-12 and Mountain West, a decision that looms large over the current structure of college athletics.

Because Marion’s offer to Sluka was verbal and never formalized, there are varying versions of what happened. Sources told ESPN that Sluka approached Odom about the money in recent days and practiced Monday with the Rebels, but then didn’t practice Tuesday. The senior transfer announced Tuesday on social media he would not play for the Rebels again this season and that he planned to use his redshirt this year.

The only formal offer from the school, according to Cromartie, was one of $3,000 a month for four months. The only money Sluka has received from UNLV, per Cromartie, was $3,000 for moving expenses.

The tension point appears to center on the verbal offer. Though reports emerged from UNLV about Sluka asking for more money, Sluka insists all he was asking for is what the program verbally promised. With no contract required up front because of the vagaries of NIL rules and third parties technically in charge of giving athletes the deals, the ambiguity over the validity of verbal offers hangs over the enterprise of college athletics.

According to his Sluka’s father and Cromartie, at no time did Sluka ask for an adjustment to the initial deal that was promised. When Sluka reported to UNLV in the summer, he was told the money would be distributed on a payment plan. He was later told that payment would come after he enrolled in school and began classes, according to his father.

The school and collective did formally offer $3,000 per month for four months, according to Cromartie, which was $88,000 less than what Sluka and Cromartie were told verbally last winter.

The current system for paying college athletes — one in which schools can make financial offers to players during the recruiting process but can’t directly fulfill those promises — might soon be changing. As part of a pending antitrust lawsuit, the NCAA has agreed to allow its schools to pay players directly. If the settlement is approved in court, the new system has the potential to give both players and teams more security by allowing them to enter into more direct contracts.

“The NCAA fully supports college athletes profiting from their NIL, but unfortunately there is little oversight or accountability in the NIL space and far too often promises made to student-athletes are broken,” Tim Buckley, NCAA senior vice president for external affairs, said in a statement. “Positive changes are underway at the NCAA to deliver more benefits to student-athletes but without clear legal authority granted by the courts or by Congress, the NCAA, conferences and schools have limited authority to regulate third parties involved in NIL transactions.”

After UNLV’s season began, Cromartie contacted Shannon Cottrell, the director of athlete engagements for the Friends of UNLV collective, and director of player development Hunkie Cooper.

“They keep deferring — ‘We don’t know. You have to wait,'” Bob Sluka said. “Then it was like, ‘We’re going to give him game checks.’ So we’re like, ‘OK, great.’ We did not ask for a single dollar [more]. At one point, we are out of pocket for him to be there, because his expenses to live there weren’t even being covered.”

Bob Sluka told ESPN that Marion and the agents from Equity Sports agreed to a verbal deal in the winter, after a recruiting visit where they spent most of their time with Marion but also met with the entire coaching staff.

“We left there understanding that we were going to get a certain dollar amount for Matt to come there on the NIL deal, not a blowout number, but a reasonable, fair number,” Bob Sluka said, adding that Matthew later received more than 25 NIL offers from other schools, including Big Ten and SEC teams, that were “four, five times the amount of money we were willing to take from UNLV.”

After the money from UNLV’s verbal promise didn’t materialize, Sluka decided to leave the team and take advantage of his redshirt opportunity.

NCAA redshirt rules allow players to retain a year of eligibility if they play four or fewer games in a season. Sluka, who played four seasons (2020-23) at FCS program Holy Cross before transferring to UNLV this past offseason, still has one more year of eligibility he could use at another school next season.

NCAA rules do not allow players to play for two schools within the same season.

UNLV is 3-0 for the first time since 1984 and also received 53 total points in the latest Associated Press poll, just 16 points behind No. 25 Boise State. The Rebels, who upset Kansas on the road in Week 3, also began the season with a victory against Houston, making them 2-0 against Big 12 teams and raising hopes they could contend for a spot in the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Sluka has completed 21 of 48 passes for 318 yards and six touchdowns with one interception this season, his first with the Rebels. He also has rushed 39 times for 286 yards and a score.

In UNLV’s 23-20 upset victory at Kansas on Sept. 13, Sluka led the Rebels on an 18-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Kylin James scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:51 left. Sluka rushed for 113 yards in the game.

After the victory, Bob Sluka said Cromartie spoke with Cooper in the stadium tunnel about Sluka’s deal, and Cooper said to call him the following week. On Sept. 19, Cooper and Odom called Cromartie.

Bob Sluka said the call yielded the idea that Marion didn’t have authority to make that caliber of an offer. Bob Sluka said the family never heard from UNLV’s collective and is in a state of confusion about what happened.

“We have no idea what the hell happened,” Bob Sluka said. “No one can explain this. Why would you let your starting quarterback walk out of the building? We did not ask for a penny more than what was agreed upon [this winter].”

Sluka holds school records from his seasons at Holy Cross, including first in career pass efficiency (147.4), second in career rushing yards (3,583), second in career rushing touchdowns (38), fifth in career passing yards (5,916) and fifth in career passing touchdowns (59). He rushed for an NCAA Division I quarterback record 330 yards in a loss to Lafayette in 2023.

Holy Cross reached the FCS playoffs in 2021 and 2022 with Sluka as the starter. After a coaching change at Holy Cross — head coach Bob Chesney left to take over at James Madison — Sluka also moved on.

Sluka now plans to work out with a quarterback trainer this fall and enroll at a school in January with time to learn the system, something he wasn’t able to do at UNLV because he was graduating from Holy Cross last spring.

With Sluka now out of the picture, UNLV figures to turn to either senior transfer Hajj-Malik Williams or senior Cameron Friel as its starting quarterback. UNLV went 9-5 last season and played for the Mountain West championship, but the quarterback who led that team to the program’s best season in nearly 40 years, Jayden Maiava, transferred to USC.

Odom, speaking on his radio show Wednesday night, called the Rebels’ practice earlier in the day the team’s best of the season. 

“The one thing about the structure of how we practice is everybody’s got equal reps from the time we started until today, which is exciting,” he said. “And whether it’s injury or transfer or whatever it is, you understand that the next guy has that mentality. They’ve got to be ready to go run the offense or play safety or whatever it is.

“And in this case, because of all news that’s gone on with it, our team has handled it in a great way. They’ve understood that between Hajj and Cam and what they bring to the table and helping us offensively to do what we do to play winning football.”

Also Wednesday, UNLV running back Michael Allen announced his departure — which happened over a week ago, according to the school — but later clarified that his decision “has no ties to NIL agreements.”

“This is due to on-field opportunities,” Allen wrote on X. “I did not receive a dime from any UNLV collective.” 

Allen had 19 carries for 108 yards in three games this season.

ESPN’s Dan Murphy and Paul Gutierrez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.