The landmark NCAA v. House settlement, finalized in June, is reshaping college sports by introducing a revenue-sharing model that allows schools to distribute up to $20.5 million per year directly to athletes. As programs begin reallocating budgets to comply with the new cap, some have reportedly adjusted or reduced name, image, and likeness (NIL) offers to recruits.
Texas Tech, however, maintained its full offer to five-star offensive tackle Felix Ojo, a Texas native who recently committed to the program, according to his agent Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management.
On a recent episode of Front Office Sports Today, Shelby confirmed that Ojo’s three-year, multimillion-dollar deal remained untouched, even as other offers shrank almost overnight due to new financial restrictions tied to the House case. Shelby also said that the report that his deal totals $5.1 million “sounds accurate.”
“Some numbers went down overnight based on the House settlement,” Shelby said. “In Felix’s case, Tech stayed the same. So he did not lose anything… and that eventually won out for Felix.”
Shelby said schools now need a more organized, strategic approach to spending: “You have to really, really have a good GM and a good staff to really be able to manage that money.”
Ojo’s mega-deal stands out not only for its value, but for its timing. Many top prospects are now entering the NIL market amid rapidly changing rules and regulations. For agents like Shelby, it means having to forecast both player fit and NCAA policy.
“The rules changed overnight in June when the House settlement was signed. So if you were not prepared for that, you are behind already,” he said.
Shelby and his business partner Rashad Phillips co-founded Prestige Management Group to give players the type of advocacy they once lacked. “We have been kind of doing this for the last 30, 40 years before we put a name on it,” Phillips said.
Prestige Management Group was launched in Dallas in 2023 and now represents athletes across multiple college sports, including Texas Tech softball star NiJaree Canady. Canady made headlines last month when she led the Red Raiders to a runner-up finish in the WCWS Finals and signed a seven-figure NIL deal through Texas Tech’s Matador Club.
The Ojo deal, they say, reflects how schools and agents are beginning to navigate a more regulated and financially constrained NIL era.
