Isaiah Wong will enter the transfer portal if his name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation isn’t increased, his NIL agent, Adam Papas of NEXT Sports Agency, told ESPN.
“If Isaiah and his family don’t feel that the NIL number meets their expectations they will be entering the transfer portal tomorrow, while maintaining his eligibility in the NBA draft and going through the draft process,” Papas said.
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The Miami Hurricanes guard declared for the draft earlier this week.
“Isaiah would like to stay at Miami,” Papas said. “He had a great season leading his team to the Elite Eight. He has seen what incoming Miami Hurricane basketball players are getting in NIL and would like his NIL to reflect that he was a team leader of an Elite Eight team.”
Under Florida State law, schools can’t be directly involved in NIL, so his threat is basically aimed at billionaire John Ruiz, who has gotten into NIL in a big way. Ruiz has 111 deals signed or pending with Hurricanes athletes to promote his companies, LifeWallet and Cigarette Racing, according to a report in the Miami Herald on Wednesday.
“It’s a unique situation just completing Nijel Pack’s deal with Miami,” said Papas, who also represents Miami power forward Jordan Walker and South Dakota State star Baylor Scheierman for their NIL deals. “Understanding what John Ruiz is trying to do with the NIL space and the city of Miami, we feel the value of Isaiah Wong should meet or exceed the value of an incoming transfer.”
Ruiz confirmed his knowledge of Wong’s dissatisfaction with his NIL compensation.
“Isaiah is under contract,” Ruiz said in a text message to ESPN. “He has been treated by LifeWallet exceptionally well. If that is what he decides, I wish him well, however, I DO NOT renegotiate! I cannot disclose the amount, but what I can say is that he was treated very fairly.”
Wong, a two-time all-ACC player and the second-leading scorer on a Hurricanes team that reached the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight, finished second on the Hurricanes in scoring average with 15.3 points per game in 2021-22. He was named to the All-ACC third team in each of the past two seasons.
Miami went 26-11 last season.
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