Name, image and likeness deals have been a headache for some in college sports, but it has also provided some players the ability to show their leadership and unselfishness.
UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee is among those players. SJ Tuohy, the executive director of UCF collective Kingdom NIL, revealed that Plumlee made a great and unselfish gesture when discussing payments with the collective.
“When I started with The Kingdom back in April, we met all the kids. Met with them all before the end of school to talk about NIL and deals, that kind of stuff. We re-upped a lot of them,” Tuohy told Pete Nakos of On3. “Plumlee came and said he knew what we were talking about and said, ‘I’m good. Take the money you’re going to pay me and told us to use it on offensive linemen and a receiver.’ He wants to win in the Big 12. And he said, ‘I’ll be fine.’ As a collective, quarterback should be the highest-paid guy. So from our perspective, for our quarterback to tell us to put that money elsewhere, that put us in a really flexible position.”
Plumlee is fairly marketable in his own right, as he has shown himself to be a two-sport star at UCF with a pretty significant following. He can probably make some deals to earn money on his own. Still, he could have easily taken the cash that he was entitled to from the collective.
UCF is set for its first season in the Big 12 this season, and could be a sleeper candidate to finish near the top of the conference.
