In the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament, Black men made up 50% of the 68 teams. Many were recipients of name, image and likeness deals — commonly known as NIL. These financial agreements, with companies ranging from multibillion-dollar corporations to local car dealerships and college-town restaurants, provided young Black men — and Black women, who make up 44% of Division I basketball players — with critical monetary resources to cover their basic needs.

In some cases, these resources helped stave off their family’s eviction or provided sustenance during a time when countless Americans are food insecure. Yet many college coaches and administrators, some of the usual suspects, are lobbying the federal government to place strict regulations on NIL while duplicitously accumu

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