UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka announced this week that he will no longer be playing for the team, and at least one Las Vegas executive tried to step in to help remedy the situation.
Sluka announced in a statement on Wednesday that he will not play for UNLV for the remainder of the season to maintain his redshirt eligibility. The senior said the decision was the result of UNLV not following through on commitments that were made when he agreed to transfer to Las Vegas from FCS school Holy Cross prior to the season.
Sluka’s agent claims that a UNLV coach who recruited Sluka promised that the quarterback would earn a minimum of $100,000. UNLV says that deal was never agreed upon and that the school’s collective was discussing potential payments of $3,000 per month to Sluka.
Mike Palm, the vice president of operations for sportsbook operator Circa Sports, told Brett McMurphy of Action Network on Friday that he contacted UNLV during the week and offered to pay Sluka the $100,000 to keep the quarterback with the Rebels. UNLV responded that they “won’t be doing business with the Sluka family again” and said Matthew is no longer with the program.
Palm says he ran the idea by Circa Sports CEO Derek Stevens, who was willing to work out an NIL deal with Sluka. Palm said he and Stevens agreed that $100,000 would be “a small price to keep UNLV’s College Football Playoff hopes alive.”
While the NCAA prohibits players from accepting NIL money from sportsbooks or casinos, Palm said Circa Sports owns several other non-gaming entities that would have made a deal possible.
Sluka went 21/48 for 318 yards, 6 touchdowns and an interception in three games with UNLV. He also had 39 rushes for 286 yards and a touchdown. UNLV is off to a 3-0 start that includes big road wins over Kansas and Houston.
The Rebels 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, but it sounds like there is no hope of their starting quarterback returning to the program.
