The NCAA has officially eliminated the National Letter of Intent (NLI), a longstanding, binding agreement between recruits and schools. This decision is due to the impending House v. NCAA settlement, which will allow schools to pay athletes over $20 million per year. This landmark settlement is expected to trigger significant changes, including revenue-sharing. As part of our The Rise of NIL in Women’s College Basketball series, we’ll explore these shifts in greater detail. You can read Part 1 of that series here: The Rise Of NIL In Women’s College Basketball: Part 1 – The Surge Of Big Money Deals.
In place of the NLI, financial aid and scholarship agreements will be utilized, preserving many of the core benefits from the previous program. The new “signing model” aims to streamline the process for both recruits and schools. It offers added benefits such as reducing confusion between NLI provisions and NCAA rules, increasing institutional autonomy in managing athletic aid agreements, providing agreement consistency between transfers and new signees, and promoting transparency or all institutions to comply with the recruiting commitment. After the final hearing of the House v. NCAA settlement in April 2025, a new binding document is expected to be created, and will need to include the revenue-sharing model and other changes.
As the NCAA reevaluates its amateurism rules and the dust settles from the House v. NCAA settlement, even more significant changes are on the horizon. The landscape of college athletics will be reshaped, with these reforms aimed at fostering more equitable opportunities for both athletes and institutions.
