Syracuse Megadonor Will Funnel NIL Money To A New School After University Commits Major Unforced Error

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There were plenty of questions about how the NCAA’s decision to allow student-athletes to profit off of their name, image, and likeness in 2021 would change the landscape of college sports.

I think it’s safe to assume the vast majority of those athletes have embraced the NIL Era with open arms, but the same can’t be said for plenty of fans, coaches, and universities that have raised some fairly valid concerns about a few issues that have already drawn the attention of Congress.

The NCAA still has a number of regulations in place concerning the NIL benefits that are deemed permissible, but there are still plenty of grey areas and loopholes boosters are able to exploit in the hopes of giving their school an edge.

That’s already created a number of headaches for programs around the country—including the University of Miami, which has had a somewhat rocky relationship with the veritable NIL kingpin who is John Ruiz.

Syracuse has also spent a fair amount of time butting heads with Adam Weitsman, the megadonor who’s dipped into the fortune he’s accrued as the owner of a scrap metal recycling company to offer some massive NIL deals to people who play football and basketball for the Orange.

However, Weitsman’s decision to eschew “donations” to an NIL collective in favor of going straight to the source reportedly didn’t sit well with Syracuse chancellor Kent Syverud.

This week, the former claimed the latter made it clear he wasn’t happy with the attention he was bringing to the school’s athletic department (which apparently extended to Weitsman’s tendency to invite high-profile names including Tom Brady and Giannis Antetokounmpo to attend Syracuse games alongside him).

Now, it appears the spurned megadonor has decided to take the millions of dollars he’d previously committed to the program to another school, as Syracuse insider Brent Huot claims Weitsman is planning to swap allegiances and funnel the NIL money he’d previously earmarked for the Orange to Binghamton University.

It’s hard to imagine that rumored move will turn the Bearcats into a powerhouse overnight, but when you consider the football and basketball programs at Syracuse seemed to need all the help they can get at the current moment, it seems like this could come back to haunt the Orange in the long run.