South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers Turned Down Multiple Pricey NIL Transfer Deals
LaNorris Sellers is back at South Carolina after his breakout 2024 season, hoping to lead the Gamecocks to the College Football Playoff after narrowly missing the 12-team field last year. But even though Sellers wasn't draft-eligible, the threat of South Carolina losing its starting quarterback still loomed this offseason.
Sellers received multiple name, image, and likeness (NIL) offers from other schools, hoping he would transfer from South Carolina over the offseason, his father, Norris Sellers, told The Athletic. The largest offer Norris received from another was an $8 million deal over two years, according to the elder Sellers.
Ultimately, Sellers remained in South Carolina after his father advised him that he didn't need the money that other schools were offering.
"He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers," Norris Sellers told The Athletic. "I told him he could say, I'm gonna stay or I'm gonna go. By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn't come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball, and with schools calling, we're not gonna jump ship because they're offering more than what we're getting. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
"You're 19. You don't need [$8 million]. You're in a great spot. There were several talks, but it never really crossed his mind [to leave]. It's a challenge with colleges offering younger guys that kind of money. Who's gonna say no to $8 million for two years? They're gonna be swayed if you don't have the right people in your corner."
Norris Sellers didn't share which schools reached out to potentially get his son to transfer from South Carolina. If they were successful, though, Sellers would've likely been the top player to enter the transfer portal this offseason. He won SEC Freshman of the Year and was named third-team All-SEC in 2024 after throwing for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with 674 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 12 games.
As a result of Sellers' strong play, South Carolina went 9-4 in 2024, going 3-4 against ranked opponents. It made a late surge in the CFP rankings as well, finishing No. 15 in the final ranking before the 12-team field was unveiled.
While Sellers turned down NIL offers from other schools, he did accept a package from South Carolina. The program rewarded him with an NIL deal through its collective, The Garnet Trust, in December. The terms of the deal weren't disclosed and have yet to be reported.
Sellers will enter the 2025 college football season as one of the most valuable players in the sport, so it'd be easy to imagine that it cost South Carolina a good bit of dough to keep him around. He has the sixth-highest NIL valuation among all college athletes entering the 2025-26 academic year at $3.8 million, per On3.
[Related: Top 25 college athletes with highest NIL valuations]
Still, Sellers insisted that his decision to remain at South Carolina wasn't related to money.
"I've been playing football all of my life for free," Sellers told The Athletic. "I've built relationships here, my family's here, my brother's here. There's no reason for me to go someplace else and start over."
Sellers, who is entering his redshirt sophomore season, has also been projected to be a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt recently ranked Sellers as the eighth-best quarterback in college football entering the 2025 season. He also ranked South Carolina 11th in his post-spring top 25 poll, largely due to Sellers.
Sellers will also enter the year as one of the favorites for the Heisman, holding the seventh-best odds to win the award (+1800) at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
recommended
Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
25 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Vanderbilt ready to keep investing in football after historic season and House settlement
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Vanderbilt has plenty of options for divvying up revenue sharing under the House settlement with a two-time national baseball champ and both men's and women's basketball coming off NCAA Tournament berths. Combined with a record of more losing seasons than bowl berths seemingly would make for an easy decision to invest anywhere but football. Not the Commodores. 'This is the SEC,' Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Storey Lee said Tuesday. 'You have to invest and invest at a high level.' The decision is tougher with the SEC's lone private university coming off one of its best all-around athletic seasons in years. Lee wouldn't specify if Vanderbilt will follow the 75-15-5-5 formula that has emerged as a popular revenue-sharing plan with the House settlement that would send 75% of revenue-share money to football, followed by men's basketball, then women's basketball. Investing more in football isn't just the cost of doing business in the Southeastern Conference. Lee and Chancellor Daniel Diermeier lured Clark Lea away from Notre Dame because they wanted to turn Vanderbilt into a consistent winner, which the Commodores haven't been in decades. In 2021, Vanderbilt announced its biggest football stadium renovation in 40 years with a complete redesign and rebuild of each end zone. The south end zone will be ready for the season opener Aug. 30. All the spending is easier to justify after 2024. With quarterback Diego Pavia, the Commodores went 7-5 and won their first bowl since 2013. The season's highlight was the program's first win over an AP No. 1-ranked team with the Commodores never trailing against Alabama last October. Lea said last season's success is starting to break through the 'cynicism' around Vanderbilt football. 'We all see the opportunity that we have right now,' Lea said. 'And I think for those of us that have been in this really ... certainly for me this being year five, I'm so excited to feel like I have something at stake, to feel like chips are on the table.' Football wasn't the only beneficiary of that initial $300 million investment. The north end zone now features the Huber Center, which opened last fall giving men's basketball and women's basketball each a floor complete with separate practice courts, locker rooms, film rooms and hangout areas for players. The timing was perfect on a campus where women's soccer reached its first Sweet 16 and women's tennis hosted an NCAA regional: — Vanderbilt men's basketball went 20-13 in coach Mark Byington's debut season earning the Commodores' first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017. — The women beat in-state rival Tennessee twice in a season for the first time, went 22-11 and earned a second straight NCAA Tournament berth. With Mikayla Blakes setting records as a freshman and Khamil Pierre back, coach Shea Ralph is targeting titles and the program's first Final Four since 1993. Ralph said she's glad to be working at Vanderbilt for an athletic director who played women's basketball at the school. Lee graduated in 2000 after four seasons playing for coach Jim Foster. Ralph's concern now is how female athletes' fair-market value is assessed. 'Are we being compared to other women? Which is going to set us back,' Ralph said. The practice court once shared now will be used by volleyball, Vanderbilt's 17th sport debuting this fall. The south end zone will have a space that can be used by coach Tim Corbin and his baseball program, which just earned the No. 1 national seed for the NCAA Tournament after winning the SEC Tournament. A training table in that end zone also will be open to all athletes. 'It's clear that we're trying to, yes, invest where you get the largest return on investment, but also invest where all of our student athletes can be positively impacted,' Lee said. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
USA Today
28 minutes ago
- USA Today
Texas A&M HC Mike Elko provides more context on star running back's 2025 status
Texas A&M HC Mike Elko provides more context on star running back's 2025 status Texas A&M head coach Mike Elko has continued to make the media rounds this summer, making a stop in the DFW area for Forth Worth Coach's Night to speak to Aggie alumni, donors, and media members about the upcoming 2025 season, and his belief that this will be Texas A&M's best season yet entering his second year at the helm. This offseason has been busy, especially on the recruiting trail after landing three more commitments in the 2026 class, including standout four-star running back KJ Edwards on Tuesday night. Elko and his staff, like former head coach Jimbo Fisher, greatly value recruiting as opposed to only relying on the transfer portal, knowing that gaining elite future NFL talent is the key to sustained success. The Aggies are poised to make a run to the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history if the roster lives up to its potential, especially the talented and deep running back room led by senior back Le'Veon Moss, who missed the final five games of the 2024 regular season due to his season-ending leg injury. While his injury was serious, Moss has vocally expressed that be 100% ready for the 2025 season, and while he has also received the backing of his head coach, Elko stated on Tuesday night that his star back will not go through contact drills until midway through fall camp. "He will not be cleared for contact until midway through training camp." This is not surprising given the severity of Moss's injury, and while he has been moving well over the past three months, Elko and, RB coach Trooper Taylor, and OC Collin Klein will take every precaution necessary to prevent any further wear and tear before the real games begin. Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Cameron on X: @CameronOhnysty.
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Mike Tomlin Downplays Concerns over T.J. Watt's Minicamp Holdout: ‘I'm Optimistic We're Going to Get Things Done'
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is not worried about All-Pro outside linebacker T.J. Watt's three-day absence from mandatory minicamp due to a contract dispute. He's confident that a solution will be reached at some point. When that will be is unknown, however. 'I'm not going to get into speculation there,' Tomlin said. 'You guys know what negotiations is about; I'm optimistic we're going to get things done because we got two sides that want things done. When that's going to occur, I don't know.' Advertisement Tomlin was not surprised that Watt held out from the three mandatory minicamp sessions. 'Certainly, we'd like him to be here, but certainly not surprised about where we are,' Tomlin said. 'We've expressed a desire to get the business done. He has as well, and so, we'll continue to work. We've been here before.' Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt during a game against the New York Giants on Oct. 30, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now Watt has not been around the team since cryptically throwing up the deuces on Instagram a few months ago. Despite perception that Watt is not happy with the Steelers, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network does not believe there's bad blood between the two sides. 'I don't feel that this one is contentious,' Garafolo said on The Insiders. 'If a player misses mandatory minicamp over the next couple days, you don't have to fine a player. We'll see what the Steelers wind up doing on this one. Advertisement 'I know that they feel really good about the talks that they've had and the offers that they've made… Mike Tomlin has the belief that T.J. Watt is gonna be just fine working away from the facility, so they're not stressing about that part of it. 'If there was a pressure point right now, and the start of training camp seems like it's a pressure point, I feel like this thing would get done. And it will get done at some point,' Garafolo concluded. Adam Schefter of ESPN also said on The Pat McAfee Show that the Steelers are not worried about Watt's absence from mandatory minicamp. 'I think the Steelers feel comfortable that they'll be able to work out something with T.J. Watt. … He's making a statement by staying away from mandatory minicamp,' Schefter said. Advertisement The former NFL Defensive Player of the Year's current deal is set to expire at the end of the 2025 season and is likely looking for one that meets or beats the $40 million per year that the Cleveland Browns gave Myles Garrett earlier this offseason. Watt is deserving of a new deal as the Steelers' best player and heartbeat of the team. The 30-year-old is coming off the least-productive full season of his NFL career but still proved to have plenty of good football left in him while recording 11.5 sacks and a league-leading six forced fumbles. Tomlin doesn't seem to think Watt's time in Pittsburgh is even close to coming to an end. 'No,' Tomlin stated when asked if there's concern about Watt's future with the team. Advertisement Watt's current deal is a four-year, $112 million contract. He is set to earn $21.05 million in salary in 2025, none of which is guaranteed. Alan Saunders and Brendan Howe contributed reporting from Pittsburgh. This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Mike Tomlin Downplays Concerns over T.J. Watt's Minicamp Holdout: 'I'm Optimistic We're Going to Get Things Done' Related Headlines
