Name, image and likeness has spiraled into one of the biggest topics in college sports these days, and to some, it needs to be reined in. Now the NCAA is addressing NIL as it relates to booster involvement.

Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated reported that officials are exploring guidelines that reinforce that boosters are prohibited from recruiting. Schools not monitoring donors will be sanctioned for violating existing bylaws.

Attorney Darren Heitner, who closely follows NIL trends, added that the NCAA is focusing on not only booster-led NIL collectives, but all boosters who are using NIL to recruit high school prospects and college athletes in the transfer portal.

Since the NIL changes entered college sports on July 1st, there has been a growing concern about unintended consequences, and additional inducements to lure recruits to campus. As Dellenger reported, the guidelines will provide more guidance to member schools on what many administrators say are NIL-disguised “pay for play” deals orchestrated by donors to induce prospects, recruit players off other college teams and retain their own athletes.

There has been some gray area in the new NIL era about the long-held NCAA rule about boosters being an arm of the athletics department. Collectives, for example, have been viewed as enough of a third party to skirt some of the rules.

The guidelines, still in draft form, outline that booster-backed collectives should be prohibited from associating with high school prospects and college transfers, potentially opening the door for contentious legal challenges between the association and booster groups.