Quarterback of undefeated college team leaves school over NIL dispute

LAS VEGAS (WGHP) — The Name, Image, and Likeness era of college football has been full of shocking twists and turns.

Another shocking twist in the saga came along early Wednesday morning as the starting quarterback for an undefeated college football team announced that he would be leaving the team immediately and hinted at a dispute over NIL compensation as the reason why.

Matthew Sluka, a senior quarterback, was the starting quarterback for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels football team.

Sluka transferred to UNLV from the College of Holy Cross in January.

He started the first three games of the season for UNLV and helped lead the Rebels to a 3-0 start on the season.

In three starts, Sluka has thrown for 318 yards, six touchdowns, one interception and completed 43.8% of his passes. He also ran for 253 yards and one touchdown.

UNLV has high expectations this season as they are ranked No. 23 in the Coaches Poll and are considered to be among the favorites to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff.

However, a season of high hopes for the Rebels hits a sudden fork in the road with Sluka’s announcement on X that he will be leaving the team.

In his announcement, Sluka claims that UNLV made “certain representations” to him when he committed to the program and “it became clear that these commitment would not be fulfilled in the future.”

The language used by Sluka in his announcement would seemingly imply dealings with NIL compensation are the reason for his departure from the university.

You can read his full statement below:

I have decided to utilize my redshirt year and will not be playing in any additional games this season. I committed to UNLV based on certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld after I enrolled. Despite discussions, it became clear that these commitments would not be fulfilled in the future. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.

Matthew Sluka on X

Now, conflicting reports are coming as to the true nature behind Sluka’s decision.

Sports Reporter Paloma Villicana with KVVU-TV in Las Vegas reports that Sluka was allegedly approached by another program with more money to transfer away from UNLV.

College Football Analyst Carl Reed Jr. with 247Sports reports that UNLV allegedly “completely met” all financial commitments with Sluka and that Sluka’s family hired an agent and now allegedly “they collectively feel that his market value has increased.”

Sluka will be using a redshirt year in order to maintain his eligibility to play for another team next season.

Sluka’s father, Bob Sluka, spoke with ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and claims that a NIL deal was reached with UNLV in February. However, they allegedly never received payments and never asked for any adjustments to the original deal.

“We have no idea what the hell happened,” Bob Sluka told Rittenberg.

Bob Sluka claims that UNLV kept “deferring” on payments and that his son’s living expenses were not even covered.

Bob Sluka told Rittenberg that his son was allegedly supposed to have his NIL deal with UNLV distributed through a payment plan and was told to wait until classes started and then to wait until games started before a Sept. 19 phone call where Sluka’s agent was allegedly told that UNLV would pay no more than a $3,000 relocation cost.

The current bylaws of the NCAA state that “name, image and likeness activities may not be used as an inducement for an individual to enroll or remain enrolled at a specific institution.” However, situations such as Sluka’s certainly cast doubt on whether or not that is truly the case.

UNC’s head coach Mack Brown said earlier in August that the Tar Heels’ star running back Omarion Hampton was offered four times as much money as he currently makes in NIL to leave North Carolina.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy went on the record about telling his players to “tell [their] agents to quit calling us and asking for more money. It’s non-negotiable now. Start again in Decemeber.”

According to the current NCAA bylaws , “an individual may receive compensation for the use of the individual’s name, image and likeness, which may be secured or compensated based, in whole or in part, on athletics skill or reputation. Name, image and likeness activities may not be used to compensate a student-athlete for athletics participation or achievement.”

While schools are allowed to “provide assistance and services” to players in finding NIL opportunities, they are not allowed to compensate them directly.

Despite the limit on direct compensation, the current system creates an environment that can favor larger schools, with larger alumni networks and thus better capabilities of providing more profitable NIL opportunities.

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