09-25-2024, 01:10 PM
This story deserves a bit of a deeper dive. Sluka, the qb at the center of this is NOT your typical transfer portal player. Sluka played four years at Holy Cross (All American, two time Walter Payton Award Finalist) led the team to three FCS playoff appearances including a bye, and was considered an attractive portal option for extra COVID year. So why UNLV? Essentially all of his opportunities dried up when he made it clear he wanted to stay at Holy Cross through the spring semester to graduate with his class. I have no relation to the young man but I became a brobdingnagian fan of watching him play for Holy Cross and respected the fact that he stayed the course. I could not have been more shocked to see this news late last night.
I am clearly biased, but I have a hard time believing UNLV is innocent in this situation. Why would a life long east coast lifer pick a mountain west school that already had a FCS grad transfer qb if there was no type offer (as UNLV claims in their press release)? I certainly do not know the truth. If I had to guess, the NIL offer may have been contingent on Sluka winning the starting job (again, he was not at UNLV spring practices, he was still at Holy Cross). He won the job, then he won three games. Why pay up if you don't have to? Someone on Twitter compared it to a drug deal gone wrong, who do you go to for help? Finally, this all appears to be over 100K. Of all places you would think you could find 100K in LAS VEGAS to keep this problem from becoming the lead story in college sports, and keep you qb at the same time.
In the end, both parties come out looking petty at best. As a fan, this is just another discouraging development. It just keeps getting harder and harder to care.
I am clearly biased, but I have a hard time believing UNLV is innocent in this situation. Why would a life long east coast lifer pick a mountain west school that already had a FCS grad transfer qb if there was no type offer (as UNLV claims in their press release)? I certainly do not know the truth. If I had to guess, the NIL offer may have been contingent on Sluka winning the starting job (again, he was not at UNLV spring practices, he was still at Holy Cross). He won the job, then he won three games. Why pay up if you don't have to? Someone on Twitter compared it to a drug deal gone wrong, who do you go to for help? Finally, this all appears to be over 100K. Of all places you would think you could find 100K in LAS VEGAS to keep this problem from becoming the lead story in college sports, and keep you qb at the same time.
In the end, both parties come out looking petty at best. As a fan, this is just another discouraging development. It just keeps getting harder and harder to care.