Ex-BYU Football Player Alleges Collective Cut NIL Payments Before School Secured $5M Hooper
BYU safety Crew Wakley on the field.
Former BYU football player Crew Wakley was among two ex-Cougars referenced in a recent Salt Lake Tribune article regarding the 2024 season. While the team achieved an 11-2 record and barely missed a Big 12 Championship berth, not everyone on the roster was satisfied.
Wakley and teammate Isaiah Bagnah claim that NIL commitments were not upheld. The school’s collective reportedly revised its payment structure before the season commenced.
In early January, the new head of the Royal Blue Collective—the officially sanctioned Name, Image, and Likeness arm of BYU athletics—addressed the team with a new approach.
“I’m not here to pay your rent or bills. That’s not my role,” Min Kim said, according to BYU defensive end Isaiah Bagnah. “You guys are entitled, greedy, always asking me for money.”
The pair asserted that NIL payments were dramatically reduced in the offseason before the 2024 campaign. Bagnah stated that starters’ compensation dropped by over 50%, while most walk-ons received nothing. The collective allegedly presented players with an ultimatum—sign immediately or forfeit their earnings.
Wakley also pointed to a non-compete clause in the agreement. Players weren’t allowed to “build their own brands” because it wouldn’t “align with Royal Blue.” He recalled teammates being dismissed for securing outside sponsorships.
According to the players, the issues began even before those NIL discussions. In December 2023, the report states that payments were delayed until after the transfer window closed. This was not communicated to the team, per Bagnah.
Under normal circumstances, players received payments around the 15th of each month. However, when the team dispersed from Provo at the close of the 2023 season, the money never arrived in their accounts.
The collective only released the December payments after the transfer portal window shut at the end of the month, Bagnah claimed. Some players suspected the delay was intentional—to encourage them to remain on the roster rather than leave and lose part of their NIL earnings.
One month after the postponed payments, the collective announced renegotiations. The justification for the reductions? BYU’s 5-7 record from the previous season.
“I’m here to win. And you guys didn’t win last year,” Bagnah recalled Min Kim saying.
BYU secured top basketball recruit AJ Dybantsa a year after the NIL reductions.
The nation’s No. 1 recruit committed to the Cougars in December and signed in February. His potential one-year deal is reportedly valued at over $4 million.
The partnership is set to be one of the most lucrative in college basketball next season. Dybantsa is one of several elite players to join the program since new coach Kevin Young took over.
Meanwhile, football players were allegedly assured they could renegotiate in the fall after expressing concerns over the January cuts. That promise was seemingly never fulfilled.
When players voiced frustrations, collective leaders guaranteed that salaries would be revisited after fall camp, Wakley said. The safety recalled being told that starters’ pay would be increased—but that never happened.
Over the past year, football and basketball players have had vastly different experiences with BYU’s NIL collective. It’s unclear if Dybantsa’s major deal played a role in the football team’s renegotiation process. Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and basketball operations CEO Danny Ainge reportedly provided a blank check to secure the forward’s commitment. The football team doesn’t appear to have received the same level of donor support.
The players mentioned in the Salt Lake Tribune article have since departed Provo. Isaiah Bagnah is preparing for the NFL, while Crew Wakley has transferred to Purdue.