Details surface about UNLV quarterback’s decision to quit on team

UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka announced on Wednesday that he will not play for the team again this season, and some conflicting information has since surfaced about what led to the stunning decision.

In a statement via social media, Sluka wrote that he is benching himself to maintain his redshirt status after UNLV did not fulfill certain commitments to the senior . Sluka transferred to UNLV from FCS school Holy Cross prior to the season, so it was obvious there was some sort of issue with a name, image and likeness deal.

Shortly after Sluka announced his decision, Carl Reed Jr. of 247 Sports reported that all financial commitments UNLV made to Sluka were “completely met.” The issue, according to Reed, was that Sluka’s family asked for more money following big early-season road wins over Kansas and Houston.

That sounds like UNLV’s side of the story. Sluka’s father, Bob Sluka, told ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg that Matthew agreed to an NIL deal with UNLV in February and was never paid. The elder Sluka denied that the family ever asked for more money. Bob claimed Matthew was told his money would be distributed via a payment plan but that UNLV recently told Sluka’s agent the quarterback would not be paid anything other than a $3,000 relocation cost .

“They keep deferring, ‘We don’t know. You have to wait,'” Sluka told Rittenberg. “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]. … We have no idea what the hell happened.”

Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, then shared more details of the Sluka family’s side with ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Cromartie claims Sluka was promised a minimum of $100,000 for transferring from Holy Cross but the school went back on that and said Sluka would only be paid $12,000 over four months.

The way Cromartie describes it, UNLV had a verbal agreement with Sluka and did not follow through. The school will likely have a different account of what happened.

Either way, it sounds like Sluka is done at UNLV. That is significant, as the Rebels are off to a 3-0 start and have positioned themselves to be one of the teams from the Group of Five conferences to earn a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Sluka has gone 21/48 for 318 yards, 6 touchdowns and an interception through three games. He also has 39 rushes for 286 yards and a touchdown.

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