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Dawn Staley tells Michelle Obama what she likes and doesn't like about revenue sharing
South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley discussed revenue sharing in depth for the first time, including the challenges of keeping control as college athletics changes, on a podcast with former First Lady Michelle Obama that aired Aug. 13.
The House settlement allowed schools to begin paying athletes up to $20.5 million annually beginning July 1. It's in addition to NIL pay.
Staley revealed her players must sign Non-Disclosure Agreements regarding the money they receive. Obama said the players don't need to be in the business of knowing what each other makes.
"Now whether they can stick with that or not, some of them get disgruntled and maybe transfer and just say what 'I was making (amount)' and it can stir up the pot but I'm very honest," Staley said in the episode recorded June 10. "I'll tell them, there's a reason why you get paid this and you get paid that. I'll explain that to them."
Dawn Staley on NIL, revenue sharing in college sports
Obama asked how these changes have impacted the locker room and Staley said knock on wood, they haven't. She said she's clear in the financial conversations, and tries to do most of the talking with agents. Some players have the same agent, which increases the likelihood of knowing what a teammate makes.
South Carolina hasn't publicly addressed how the money will be distributed but Staley said in general, "Probably $20 million per school but that's football, that's men's basketball and maybe sprinkling women's basketball and other Olympic sports."
Three three-time national championship coach who is now in her 17th season with the Gamecocks was asked by Obama how revenue sharing has changed recruiting.
"That's the difficult part," Staley said. "The market says that if you're a non-contributor and you go into the portal, they can go ask a school like us for $100,000. If I entertain that, they're going to take it to another school, (say) 'hey South Carolina offered me a hundred grand, you got $150,000?"
She said South Carolina has a certain amount of money to work with and she stays within budget and doesn't overpromise but does "innovative things" to "help her players out in that space."
An example is in November, the Gamecocks will play in the inaugural Players Era Women's Championship, which gives players the chance at least $1 million of NIL activities. They will play Duke on Nov. 26 then Texas or UCLA on Nov. 27 in Las Vegas.
"I'm supportive of it, I really am," Staley said about the changes as a whole. "I think it's long overdue," but keeping control is necessary.
"We got to find a way to balance," Staley said. "To keep it an amateur sport while allowing young people to go out there and benefit from their name, image and likeness."
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@ Follow her on X @Lulukesin and Bluesky @
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley discusses revenue sharing, NIL on Michelle Obama podcast
