Coleman Hawkins’ $2 Million Deal With Kansas State Shows NIL Is Out Of Control

Getty Image / Michael Reaves

NIL is definitely a huge net positive for college athletes, and is a right that they should’ve had a long time ago. But, the reported NIL deal given to Illinois basketball transfer Coleman Hawkins to transfer to Kansas State shows that NIL may be out of control and far from its intended use.

Hawkins, a very good, but not elite, college big man, received a reported $2 million from Kansas State’s NIL boosters to cement his transfer to Manhattan, Kansas.

First off, good for Coleman Hawkins for getting life-changing money! Obviously, he can’t live off that the rest of his life. But, it’s a heck of a chunk of change for someone at 22-years old that has a small chance at an NBA future. He seems destined for overseas basketball, a good living, but not the riches of the NBA.

Last year at Illinois, he averaged 12.1 points and 6.1 rebounds while making 37% of his threes. At 6-feet-10-inches, that’s a very valuable player on-court. Anytime you can stretch the floor with size, that’s going to help a team on both ends of the floor.

But, $2 million for someone that is highly unlikely to even be an All-American next year. He was a third-team All-Big Ten selection by the media last year, a far cry from one of the absolute best players in the country.

If guys like Coleman Hawkins are going to get that much money in what amounts to pay-for-play, it seems like we’ve completely lost the plot on what NIL was supposed to be, which was the rights for student-athletes to make money off of appearances, marketing deals, etc. There is no way that Coleman Hawkins is worth $2 million in appearance fees and marketing potential. It’s pay-for-play.

That’s not to say pay-for-play is bad. In fact, we’re going to be getting it soon in mandated revenue-sharing. But, it’s a far cry from NIL, and it shows just how far things have gone off the rails.