The NCAA as you know it is about to change forever thanks to 1 huge settlement

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

For decades, people have clamoring for the NCAA to pay its athletes. Well, folks, it’s finally happening — or, at least, it’s about to.

School presidents in both the Big 12 and the ACC have all voted to settle the House vs. NCAA case that the NCAA has been involved in since 2020, ESPN’s Pete Thamel reports.

For those out of the loop, the case is seeking backpay for college athletes who were barred from using name, image and likeness rights prior to the NCAA’s seismic rule change in the summer of 2021. The plaintiffs involved are Grant House, a former Arizona State swimmer, and Sedona Prince, a former women’s basketball player at TCU.

The Big 12 and ACC have already voted to settle. The other conferences are set to vote later in the week and the NCAA is expected to follow suit too.

Here are the two big things that would come from the settlement:

• It’d create a $2.8 billion fund to pay former athletes who couldn’t sign NIL deals.
• It’d also create $20 million in revenue sharing per year for each power conference school to divide amongst its players.

You’re probably wondering why everyone is so willing to bend the knee here — especially after the NCAA fought so hard to ensure this would never happen.

The answer is this: If the NCAA doesn’t bend here, things will likely be much worse.

According to reporting from Yahoo! Sports, the final class-action figure, if the case continued, could reach as high as $20 billion, potentially sending the NCAA into bankruptcy.

Any current restraints on NIL deals would also be struck down, essentially turning the league into a free marketplace where players can work with whatever partner they choose.

Things aren’t official yet. The other conferences still need to vote. If and when this happens, it’ll be a monumental shift for the NCAA. One that will change college sports as we know it forever.

Get ready, folks. This is turning out to be a wild week.

The Pacers can’t finish the job

I didn’t think the Pacers stood much of a chance against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Before the series, I’d say I’d probably given them a small shot of winning it.

After watching Indy completely fumble away a Game 1 win? I have even less faith in Tyrese Haliburton and company.

Indiana had a three-point lead with ten seconds left in the game. Then Jaylen Brown saved everything for Boston:

Jaylen Brown singlehandedly saved this game on both ends of the floor. pic.twitter.com/GbdU6UoqNr

— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) May 22, 2024

He forces a turnover on the inbounds then hits a huge 3-pointer knotting everything at 117. Tyrese Haliburton can’t get a final shot off. The game goes into overtime. Indy probably regrets not fouling after this one.

READ MORE: We got a Mike Breen double “BANG” off this. It was awesome.

Jayson Tatum promptly scores 10 points in OT. Indiana only scored 11. That’s how badly the Celtics put the clamps on the Pacers in the period — particularly Jrue Holiday, who felt like he was playing with clones on the court.

I don’t want to say this series is over after one game. Anything can happen, obviously. But it did feel like the Pacers needed to have this one. And, for a few minutes, they did! Indy just fumbled everything away.

We’ll see how Game 2 plays out. After this scare, Boston will probably come out with a bit more oomph. Good luck, Indy, You’ll need it.

The NBA on TNT soundtrack is the star of the playoffs

Remember that time we heard Kendrick Lamar’s “Euphoria” on Inside the NBA? That was great, wasn’t it? Hearing rap beef on the platform was pretty wild. It created a magical moment that put an NBA postgame show in the middle of the pop culture zeitgeist in a way that I don’t think any other show could.

That was very intentional, by the way. Our Bryan Kalbrosky noticed it, too. He wanted to know not just why it happened, but how. So he hit up the good folks who produce the show to figure it out.

“Clever audio programming like this has become one of the many secret ingredients that leads to the continued success of Inside the NBA. Music is typically the first part of the halftime studio show and sets up whatever the crew is going to talk about for the next 15 minutes. None of this happens by accident.

“We’re just trying to throw as much stuff in front of Shaq, Charles, Kenny and Ernie that’s going to get a reaction out of them,” Keith Robinson, a TNT Sports studio producer for Inside the NBA, told For The Win. “It created a moment.”,”

After reading this piece, this show is even more magical than I originally thought it was. This piece is well worth your time. Dive in.

READ MORE: How Inside the NBA’s soundtrack became the star of the playoffs

Quick hits: Kah for MVP? … Bronny James to Boston? … and more

— Kahleah Copper is putting together quite the MVP campaign so far this season in Phoenix. Meg Hall has more.

— ESPN’s latest mock has Bronny heading to Boston. Here’s Bryan with more.

— Charles Curtis has more on how everyone hates Apple Music’s Top 100 album list

— These sportsbooks are moving shady out here. Prince Grimes has more here for you.

— Can somebody please make sure Greg Olsen stays in a booth next NFL season? Tom Brady better be good, man. Cory Woodroof has more.

— Charles Barkley finally brought his [expletive] to Minnesota. Love to see it.

That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading. We appreciate you. Have a fantastic day. Peace.

-Sykes