Purdue center Zach Edey, who is Canadian and in school on an F-1 visa, isn’t legally allowed to capitalize on any NIL deals made on American soil.
Edey spoke with reporters about those NIL laws on Friday and acknowledged that he’s almost certainly losing out on a ton of potential earnings.
“I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of money,” Edey said from Glendale, Arizona, where Purdue is set to face North Carolina State in the Final Four on Saturday.
Oren Weisfeld of Sportsnet explained the issues that prevent international student-athletes from fully benefitting from the NIL policy.
“That’s because nearly all international student-athletes are on F-1 (student) visas, which do not allow them to engage in employment outside of ‘on-campus’ work or other specific programs geared toward career development such as an internship.
“They are unable to participate in ‘active’ engagements while on American soil, including most of the traditional influencer-based NIL activations such as posting on social media or filming a commercial.
“Foreign student-athletes are allowed to profit off ‘passive’ engagements, such as jersey sales or EA Sports video game licencing in America, but these tend to be a very small percentage of NIL profits for most athletes.”
The 7’4″, 300-pound Edey is the reigning two-time national player of the year and the most productive player in men’s college hoops thanks to 25.0 points and 12.2 rebounds per game.
He’s one of the most recognizable names in all of college basketball and is just two wins away from leading Purdue to the national championship.
Naturally, there should be a lot of NIL money on the table for Edey, but he can’t fully benefit. He hopes that changes for others down the road, as he’ll end up entering the NBA draft this season.
“I hope they change it in the future,” he said. “I obviously have lost out on a lot of money this year. At the end of the day it needs to change, for sure. I understand kind of the legal process. It takes a while.
“It’s not like it’s an NCAA rule. It’s an American law. Anytime you try to go change that, I understand it takes a while. But I do think it needs to change.”
Edey is able to benefit from NIL in Canada, though, and that’s something he’s been able to do through the Boilermaker Alliance, a Purdue NIL collective. He’s been able to partner with three Canadian charities as a result in Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, the Toronto Humane Society and the Canadian Chinese Youth Athletic Association.
Edey did mention that not having a host of NIL obligations has helped him stay more focused on basketball. In that regard, he’s enjoyed a sensational season, guiding the Boilermakers to their first Final Four since 1980. A win over NC State on Saturday would mark the team’s second-ever national title game appearance after the Boilermakers made it that far in 1969, losing to UCLA.
