"A big part of the reason? Agent greed. There's just too much money to be made by player representatives pushing clients into the transfer portal. "I mean, you take a 10%, 20%, 15% of a guy's NIL money, that's Bernie Madoff level," Cronin said Friday, referencing the crooked financier who was convicted in a massive Ponzi scheme. "So that shouldn't happen anymore, and I bring that up because that needs to get illuminated because parents need to say no to that. I mean, that's ridiculous.""
"Cronin said the only way to bring stability to the game would be the federal government mandating employee contracts for athletes, leading to collective bargaining and player protections as well as multiple-year deals. Otherwise, Cronin said, players will be subject to onerous fees from agents selling dubious agendas. Cronin said agents describe their cut as "marketing 'cause it's NIL,' but we all know it's not.""
UCLA will face former Pac-12 rival Oregon, which retains veteran players Jackson Shelstad and Nate Bittle, providing rare roster stability. Coach Mick Cronin attributes the growing instability in college basketball largely to agents seeking large percentages of NIL deals and pushing players into the transfer portal. Cronin called significant agent cuts "Bernie Madoff level" and described some agent practices as pay-for-play disguised as marketing. Cronin recommended federal action to classify athletes as employees, enabling collective bargaining, caps on agent fees, and multi-year contracts. Cronin urged players and families to protect themselves against onerous agent fees.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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