Over the last few years, Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) has changed the entire landscape of college sports.
Athletes are now able to profit off themselves, resulting in paydays in the high six-figures or reaching seven figures for some of the top players, particularly in men’s basketball and football.
LaNorris Sellers is expected to be one of the best quarterbacks and overall players in college football this fall. The South Carolina signal caller is a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, and if all goes well, could be picked very high in the 2026 NFL Draft.
After a breakout 2024 season, Sellers received plenty of back-channel overtures from other programs trying to lure him into the transfer portal. According to his father Norris, one of them dangled an $8 million offer over two seasons.
“He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,” Norris Sellers told Bruce Feldman of 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.”
Eye-popping NIL offers have become part of the game for elite quarterbacks lately. Georgia transfer Carson Beck reportedly signed a $4 million deal with Miami this offseason, and in 2024, former Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was rumored to have been approached with a $6 million offer to transfer, which he declined.
In the case of Sellers, the money wasn’t worth moving on from the program where he has established himself.
“I’ve been playing football all of my life for free,” LaNorris Sellers told Feldman. “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.”
South Carolina finished 9-4 in 2024, with Sellers throwing for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. The 6-foot-3, 242-pound dual-threat added 674 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground.
The Gamecocks will open the 2025 season against Virginia Tech on August 31.
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