Disagreement over money at root of Sluka decision to leave UNLV football

Did UNLV coaches promise Matthew Sluka a six-figure payday for committing to the program? That appears to be the key issue at the center of Sluka’s shocking decision to leave the team just three games into a potentially historic season.

Sluka announced on Tuesday night that he is leaving the UNLV football program immediately, referring to “certain representations that were made to me, which were not upheld.”

A starting quarterback of a Top 25 team quitting midseason over NIL payments is unprecedented, and on Wednesday both sides attempted to tell their version of events.

Sluka inititially committed to UNLV in January. As a grad transfer from Holy Cross, he had one more year of college eligibility remaining.

According to a source, when Sluka committed to UNLV he did not have an agent representing him, though the NCAA allows players to retain representation for the purpose of negotiating Name, Image and Likeness deals.

Sluka's current agent, Marcus Cromartie of Equity Sports, said Sluka was promised $100,000 by a UNLV assistant coach.

Multiple sources said no contract was ever signed, though all NIL agreements are supposed to go through official clearinghouses. UNLV’s NIL collective uses Blueprint Sports to handle its contracts.

Cromartie said that because Sluka was still completing his degree at Holy Cross, he could not sign a NIL contract, typically done with booster-backed third parties called collectives that serve a school's athletes — until after he enrolled at UNLV later in the year.

Sluka did not join the team until preseason practice in August. No written contract was ever put in place, Cromartie said.

“In July, there was no NIL payments. There was no $100,000, I guess you could say zero dollars. He was given a $3,000 relocation fee and that was it,” said Cromartie, who declined to identify the assistant coach and said UNLV head coach Barry Odom was not involved in the initial discussions.

Cromartie said after several weeks went by he reached out to first representatives of UNLV's collective and then Odom to discuss ways to pay Sluka the $100,000 he said the player was promised.

Cromartie said he suggested payments of $10,000 a month over the next five months and even $5,000 per month and was declined. Cromartie said Sluka was offered $3,000 per month by Odom.

“At that point I think Matt felt lied to. At that point he just wanted to stand up for himself,” Cromartie said.

According to a statement released by UNLV athletics on Wednesday, the program considered Sluka’s demands to be “implied threats” and a violation of NCAA rules, and declined to pay.

“Matthew Sluka’s representative made financial demands upon the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing,” the statement read. “UNLV athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law. UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats.”

When he was informed that no money would be forthcoming, Sluka followed through on leaving the team.

NCAA rules allow football players to appear in four games while still maintaining redshirt status; Sluka has played three games this season, so he can sit out the rest of the year, enter the transfer portal and still have a full year of eligibility remaining for his next school.

On Wednesday afternoon, a second UNLV football player followed Sluka's lead and left the program. Junior running back Michael Allen posted on Twitter that he intends to sit out the rest of the year as a redshirt and transfer in the offseason. Allen had been part of a four-man backfield rotation through the first three games, carrying 19 times for 108 yards.

Like Sluka, Allen intimated that unfulfilled promises from the coaching staff were the impetus for his exit. 

“Expectations for opportunities unfortunately were not met,” Allen said.

NIL has altered the landscape of college football, and UNLV has had several tilts with the new rules. In the offseason, Notre Dame offered All-American receiver Ricky White $250,000 to transfer; UNLV’s NIL collective was able to rally and raise enough money to entice White to stay for his senior year. UNLV was unsuccessful in efforts to retain starting quarterback Jayden Maiava, who transferred to USC for a more lucrative NIL deal after winning Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors in 2023.

Under Odom’s direction, all UNLV players receive the same NIL deal. As a general philosophy, Odom generally does not believe individual players should make more money than their teammates. Only White has gone outside that structure to secure a significant individual NIL deal.

Sluka was named UNLV’s starting quarterback in the final week of training camp and led the Scarlet and Gray to their first 3-0 start in 40 years. After beating Kansas last week — spurred by Sluka’s 124 rushing yards — UNLV entered the USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll for the first time in program history (the team is ranked No. 23 this week).

With a key home game against Mountain West rival Fresno State set for Saturday, UNLV held practice on Wednesday morning, with seniors Hajj-Malik Williams and Cameron Friel taking most of the snaps at quarterback. Odom did not speak to the media.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.