A large part of recruiting in the modern era of college football involves finances. Although Name, Image and Likeness opportunities might not be the primary focus of every high school athlete trying to play on the next level, it is part of the conversation.
There is no way to avoid the discussion, even if there isn’t anything to discuss!
Kevin Wilson is one of the coaches who are forced to talk about NIL with recruits despite a lack of funds. The 62-year-old head coach complete his first recruiting class at Tulsa on Wednesday after taking over the program prior to last season.
Name, Image and Likeness did not factor into equation.
The Golden Hurricane announced 29 signees in the 2024 class. It ranks No. 72 in the country.
None of them will be getting paid. Wilson does not have any money to offer. He landed one of the best classes in program history with zero NIL dollars to back him.
When recruits ask Wilson what they are going to get at Tulsa, he tells them that they are going to get a great degree from a strong academic university, and get yelled at. The staff will approach allocation of NIL funds if there are ever any funds to allocate. There aren’t any funds right now.
Wilson also shared a hilariously blunt text exchange with one of his recruits. A transfer player asked him about money and said that he has been getting somewhere between $6,000/7,000 a month at his former school, which helps him to support his dogs and his girlfriend.
In response, Wilson told him to drop the dogs, and maybe the girl!
Honesty was at the forefront of how Wilson recruited. Tulsa was overly communicative throughout the entire process and never led anyone to believe something that is not true. And it worked!