Coaches Believe Indiana Contends For Nation's Best NIL Situation

In a CBS Sports survey of over 100 men's college basketball coaches asking which programs they believe have the best NIL situations, Indiana received the fifth highest percentage of votes.

Mike Woodson smiles during Indiana's exhibition game against Marian. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – College basketball roster building has changed drastically in recent years, and student-athletes being able to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL) is a major reason why.

Not only do players evaluate coaches, teammates, facilities and other factors when choosing a school. Now, part of their decision-making process includes where they can make money. But unlike professional sports where salaries are documented, exactly how much colleges are paying players remains uncertain.

So to shed light on this dynamic of college athletics, CBS Sports college basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed 100-plus Division I men's basketball coaches – from the sport's biggest names to low-major assistants – for their annual Candid Coaches series.

On Wednesday, they published a portion of the series that anonymously asked coaches the question: Which three programs do you believe have the best NIL situations?

Here are the results, including the percentage of ballots each team appeared on.

• Arkansas, 73.7%
• Kansas, 43.2%
• BYU, 30.6%
• Kentucky, 25.3%
• Indiana, 16.9%
• Kansas State, 13.7%
• Baylor, 11.6%
• Louisville, 11.6%
• Alabama, 10.5%
• Illinois, 9.5%
• Texas Tech, 9.5%
• Duke, 8.4%
• UConn, 6.3%
• North Carolina, 6.3%
• Tennessee, 4.2%
• Memphis, 3.2%
• Texas, 3.2%
• Ohio State, 2.1%
• St. John’s, 2.1%

Other programs that received at least one vote: Arizona, Florida, Georgetown, McNeese State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Villanova and Washington.

So in short, 16.9% of coaches surveyed believe Indiana has one of the three best NIL situations in men's college basketball. That's the highest percentage in the Big Ten, and only four teams nationwide received a higher percentage of votes than the Hoosiers.

Indiana's official NIL collectives are called Hoosiers Connect and Hoosiers For Good. According to their websites, "Hoosiers Connect provides fans and businesses a way to get involved and support NIL. Through a Hoosiers Connect membership, fans get to be a part of the team & make a direct impact on NIL opportunities for IU student-athletes. By purchasing one of our memberships, fans receive exclusive experiences, memorabilia, and other perks. We also partner with businesses and organizations to help partner them with IU student-athletes by leveraging our extensive experience with NIL and established relationships with IU student-athletes."

"Hoosiers For Good was established in March 2022 to raise awareness for charitable causes throughout Indiana — by partnering local charities with community-minded Hoosier student athletes who choose to use their platform and influence to amplify the philanthropic work that helps our community thrive."

Indiana coach Mike Woodson had a busy offseason building his roster for the 2024-25 season. Indiana lost six players from last season – Kel'el Ware, Xavier Johnson, Anthony Walker, CJ Gunn, Kaleb Banks and Payton Sparks – and replaced them with six transfers and one freshman. Those new Hoosiers include Myles Rice (Washington State), Oumar Ballo (Arizona), Kanaan Carlyle (Stanford), Luke Goode (Illinois), Langdon Hatton (Bellarmine), Dallas James (South Carolina State) and five-star freshman Bryson Tucker.

Fans can get their first look at the new-look Indiana team on Oct. 18 at Hoosier Hysteria and in its first exhibition game on Nov. 1 against Marian University.

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