South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers rejected tempting transfer offers, the college football star's father says
The advent of name, image, and likeness (NIL) has significantly altered the college sports landscape. High-profile college athletes will often consider projected NIL figures before they commit to or transfer to another school.
South Carolina football star LaNorris Sellers received tempting offers designed to entice him to enter the transfer portal. "He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers," Sellers' father, Norris, told The Athletic.
The South Carolina quarterback ultimately turned down the offers in favor of remaining with the Gamecocks, according to his father. At least one of the lucrative proposals "he heard was for $8 million for two years," Sellers' father said.
He also suggested that his son never intended to play college football to simply "make money" and that another university "offering more" wasn't enough to motivate the quarterback to transfer.
"I told him he could say, 'I'm gonna stay or I'm gonna go.' [But] my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree, and go on about our business," Norris Sellers said. "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."
Sellers, who will be classified as a redshirt sophomore this fall, finished the 2024 season with 2,534 passing yards and 18 touchdowns. He will be eligible for the NFL draft after the 2025 college season.
Sellers and South Carolina are slated to open the regular season on Aug. 31 against Virginia Tech in Atlanta.
College athletes started receiving compensation for their names, images, and likenesses in 2021. At the time, many athletic boosters formed groups called collectives. The collective effectively tapped NIL funds as de facto salaries for their respective teams. Prominent players have received millions of dollars from collectives.
However, a federal judge's recent decision on a $2.8 billion settlement paved the way for college and university athletic departments to cut checks directly to athletes. Judge Claudia Wilken approved the multi-billion The House v. NCAA settlement. Wilken's ruling came just weeks before July 1, the date many schools planned to begin issuing payments directly to athletes.
Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ben Roethlisberger Offers T.J. Watt Update
Ben Roethlisberger Offers T.J. Watt Update originally appeared on Athlon Sports. As a franchise steeped in continuity, there's an uneasy feeling whenever a Pittsburgh Steelers stalwart puts that status in doubt. Advertisement Ahead of the 2024 season, it was defensive tackle Cameron Heyward's turn to test the waters. Coming off an injury-plagued season, Heyward was in search of a new deal that ensured he'd be paid handsomely to spend the twilight of his career in Western Pennsylvania. At first, the Steelers didn't budge. Ultimately, a deal got done, and Heyward put forth an incredible bounce-back season, logging eight sacks on the way to All-Pro honors. A year later, edge rusher T.J. Watt is due for an extension. Cleveland Browns superstar Myles Garrett's recent four-year, $160 million deal has raised the stakes, and Watt is holding out in hopes of approaching (if not surpassing) that number. Steelers legend Ben Roethlisberger gave an update on Watt's contract negotiations now that he held himself out of minicamp. Advertisement "It's interesting because this is now a mandatory minicamp," Roethlisberger said. "So he can be fined. It'll be interesting to see if the Steelers decide to fine him or not because they don't have to ... Last time this happened was four years ago when T.J. was looking for a new contract. The difference is, he's holding out, which means he is not there. Last time, he held in, which means, 'I'm going to come, I'll be here, but I'm not participating.'" Like Heyward, Watt is coming to the table after an underwhelming year with some level of concerns attached to his age. Heyward, well into his 30s with two sacks in 2023, managed to come to an agreement. Watt still posted 11.5 sacks in 2024 and is only entering his age-31 season. Watt would like to be the highest-paid defensive player in football. Pittsburgh, presumably on the hook for ~$20 million more than it anticipated entering the offseason, is understandably taking its time. "This year, he's not there," Roethlisberger said. "You asked the question of what's the difference? I don't know, only T.J. knows the difference. My only speculation and guess is like, they must not be close. If you were close, I would think that T.J. would do what he did last time." Advertisement For now, the two seem far apart. But the Steelers are incentivized to keep Watt around, and his run defense should keep him among the best edge rushers in the sport, even if his pass-rushing decline proves to be more than a blip on the radar. Until then, the Pittsburgh faithful will continue to hold their breath, hoping that gap is addressed before his absence becomes meaningful. Related: AFC North Rival Sets Bar for Watt Extension Related: Steelers Legend Chimes in on T.J. Watt's Absence This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ex-Loretto hospital CFO hit with new charges alleging massive $290 million COVID testing fraud scheme
A former top executive of Loretto Hospital on Chicago's West Side has been charged in a massive $290 million fraud scheme that allegedly used stolen patient data to bill nearly a billion dollars worth of bogus COVID-19 tests for purportedly uninsured patients at the height of the pandemic. The 48-page indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Tuesday marked the latest — and largest — fraud scheme involving the small West Side safety-net hospital that became a lighting rod of controversy during the coronavirus pandemic for administering vaccinations to connected insiders and paying millions in contracts to companies with close ties to facility administrators. Anosh Ahmed, who was previously indicted in a related scheme to embezzle $15 million from Loretto itself, was charged in the new 24-count indictment with wire fraud, illegal kickbacks and other financial crimes. Also charged were Mohamed Sirajudeen, 53, an Ahmed associate who operated a clinic called Chicago Polyclinic LLC, as well as Mahmood Sami Khan, 36, and Suhaib Ahmad Chaudhry, 34, both former employees of Anosh Inc., a Houston-area company Ahmed formed after leaving Loretto in 2021. Ahmed, 41, fled to Dubai before he was first charged last year and has not returned, court records show. Over the past year, he's been using a public relations firm to produce news releases calling himself a 'billionaire agripreneur' dedicated to philanthropic causes, including donating millions of pounds of food to the needy in Lebanon. His lawyer, Dan Webb, could not immediately be reached. Chaudhry and Khan were arrested in the Houston area Tuesday and were expected to appear in court there on Wednesday, court records show. Sirajudeen has arranged to surrender through his attorney. It was not clear if any of the three defendants had hired attorneys. According to the indictment, from April 2021 to June 2022, Ahmed and his co-conspirators used laboratories they opened in Illinois and Texas to submit false claims to the Health Resources and Services Administration for COVID testing of specimens 'purportedly collected from uninsured individuals, knowing that such testing had not occurred.' In all, the false claims sought reimbursement for nearly $895 million, of which more than $293 million was actually paid, the indictment stated. To further the scheme, after Ahmed left Loretto Hospital in April 2021, he had a hospital executive identified as Individual F to obtain a spreadsheet containing personal identifiers — including names, dates of birth, gender and addresses — collected from more than 150,000 Loretto patient visits between July 2014 and June 2020, the indictment alleged. Similar personal information was collected from patients who ordered COVID-19 antigen at-home test kits from an internet site run by Khan, as well as individuals who provided it 'for the purpose of receiving further information about COVID-19,' the indictment stated. The indictment alleged Ahmed used a variety of methods to try to conceal the scheme, including by having Individual F create a new email address with Loretto's domain name to 'create the false appearance that Ahmed was working on behalf of (Loretto)' and that the hospital was reporting test results to patients, the indictment alleged. Ahmed also created a number of false and backdated invoices to minimize his involvement with the various labs, communicated in encrypted messaging apps and ordered co-schemers to replace phones and destroy communications and other documents relating to the scheme, the indictment stated. The indictment sought forfeiture in more than $100 million in cash and securities in various accounts controlled by Ahmed, as well as seizure of four luxury properties in Texas, and vehicles including two Rolls-Royces, a Lamborghini Huracan and a Mercedes Benz. The indictment is the latest in a federal investigation initiated after Loretto came under fire for improperly doling out COVID-19 vaccinations soon after the shots became available. In 2021, following reporting by Block Club Chicago and WBEZ, Loretto admitted it had improperly vaccinated workers at Trump Tower in downtown Chicago and had also improperly given shots to Cook County judges at a time when the vaccines were still scarce. Ahmed resigned from his position as chief financial officer in 2021 after the hospital's board voted to terminate him. Last year, Ahmed was charged in a separate embezzlement case along with former Loretto CEO George Miller; Heather Bergdahl, a friend of Ahmed's from Houston whom he hired in 2020 to serve as Loretto's chief transformation officer; and Sameer Suhail, 47, of Chicago, a doctor and medical supply company owner accused of serving as a front for millions of dollars in bogus payments by Loretto for invoices that were never fulfilled. Miller, who left the hospital amid the fallout in 2022, is cooperating and is expected to plead guilty. Suhail is also believed to be living in Dubai, where he traveled before his indictment. Bergdahl, meanwhile, was arrested after boarding a private jet in Houston that was bound for Dubai. She has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial. jmeisner@
Wall Street Journal
17 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Bill Would Raise Estate Tax Exemption to $15 Million and Make It Permanent
The big tax-and-spending bill in Congress would end a race against time by the wealthy to avoid estate taxes. The bill passed in the House last month and the Senate Finance Committee proposal released Monday both would permanently allow people to hand their heirs $15 million without paying a dime. Under the current rules laid out in the 2017 tax law, today's nearly $14 million exemption would expire at year-end and drop by about half.
