"Assurance Cleaners? Kirby Smart Anticipates Challenging Future for Collegiate Football"
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart issued a dire warning regarding the immediate future of the sport in light of UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka packing his bags and ending his season because of a financial commitment he claims was promised but not received.
\"There\'s probably going to be more and more of this going on, especially as the year goes on, November and December,\" Smart said on the SEC media teleconference on Wednesday. \"Athletic departments are going to struggle to fulfill their commitments. I anticipate difficult times ahead for college football as a result.\"
Sluka, a senior, announced Tuesday night he was taking a redshirt and not playing the rest of the season for UNLV. He transferred to Las Vegas after four seasons at Holy Cross when, according to Sluka\'s father, UNLV agreed to pay the quarterback $100,000 under allowed Name, Image and Likeness rules.
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Sluka\'s agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, told ESPN an assistant coach verbally committed to the six-figure payment for Sluka. However, after multiple inquiries, UNLV and its collective agreed to a much lower payment of $3,000 for four months, leaving the player and his representative $88,000 short of the initial agreement.
Bob Sluka said his son, Matthew, was told when he arrived at UNLV that he would be put on a payment plan but did not receive any payment. The elder Sluka said Cromartie was eventually informed that the quarterback would only receive $3,000 to cover his move to Nevada, leaving his living expenses uncovered.
\"I guess you\'re asking me for a solution? I don\'t have the answer,\" Smart said Wednesday. \"I can tell you that I don\'t think this will be the last time we see this. With the current financial landscape and the unknowns surrounding it, people may make promises they can\'t keep. This is something we have encountered in our recruiting as well.
\"I am not implying that UNLV made promises they couldn\'t keep. I do not know the specifics of that situation. What I am saying is that this is becoming more and more common. With the move towards revenue-sharing, unless there is a contract in place with specific terms, we will not be able to achieve our desired goals.\"
