This is the aspect of NIL that from the very first discussion of it I was surprised more people didn't see this beneficial fallout from it.
"It took players about a nanosecond to setup online shops where they could endorse products, send birthday shout-outs to strangers, print t-shirts, tattoo a vape shop Venmo on their neck, or whatever else they could think of, and good for them. Across every sport, there are players cashing in on their fame in myriad ways, it’s a cash grab with immediate and profound impacts, and it has in significant ways leveled the field for college programs to compete against early entry into the professional world. A player than can clear a $2000-5000/month in endorsements is marginally less desperate to get to the next level to start getting paid, and for a famous freshman whose game/abilities may not be tailor-made for the next level - I’m thinking here of a player who might be a mid/late second-round pick in the NBA - it’s possible a program with the proper levers to pull with local businesses & boosters could drop an extra-nice endorsement deal in their laps to help tip the scales to keep a talent around 1 year longer than they otherwise might have. (This is technically not allowed in the current NCAA landscape, but we’ll get to that shortly.) The lottery picks are going to leave because they should leave to make seven figures, but the fringe NBA prospects are suddenly somewhat more persuadable to get on campus in the first place and possibly stay around a little longer. This is a net-win for high-major college programs, plus they got to watch the NCAA take it in the shorts in front of the world. Just an all-around great situation for everybody not working at NCAA HQ."
This was clear as day to me at the very instance momentum started building for NIL. Somebody like Isaiah Taylor or J'Covan Brown doesn't leave a year early with NIL on the table. Shit you may even guys like Joseph Ossai and Connor Williams would possibly be persuadable if their first round grade prospects turned as flimsy as they ended up being in the end.