Kris Jenkins says his epic college basketball championship-winning shot at the buzzer in 2016 was worth hundreds of thousands, and he's suing the NCAA and six major conferences to that end. The AP reports NCAA athletes have been able to make money from their name, image, and likeness since July 2021, and a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that's close to completion would retroactively compensate athletes who played between 2016 and that date but were prevented from making NIL money. Jenkins, Villanova's NCAA championship hero and a member of the team from 2013-2017, is one of about 350 athletes to opt out of that settlement, with some, like Jenkins, filing lawsuits on their own.
The lawsuit filed Saturday seeks for a jury to determine the appropriate compensation for Jenkins, and it details the riches it believes resulted in part from what became known as "the Shot." That includes a $22.6 million gift to Villanova's athletic program, $19.1 million from the NCAA that the Big East doled out to member schools, a 27% jump in alumni donations in the year of the championship, an increase in enrollment, and publicity related to the title win that could be valued between $250 million and $1 billion.
The suit says that under current NIL rules, Jenkins would have collected a share of game telecast revenue plus third-party income that could come from sponsorship, social media, and other deals. It estimates $400,000 to $500,000 in lost earnings, per the Athletic, which reports the suit claims the Shot is still financially benefiting others to this day. The suit points out that videos of the play occupy the first- and third-most viewed slots on the NCAA March Madness YouTube channel, which is "inundated with paid commercial content." As Jenkins himself put it to ESPN: "I haven't played college basketball in eight or nine years and the shot is still being replayed and reused, and I haven't been compensated for that in any way."
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The Inquirer notes that "NBA fame and riches" did not follow Jenkins' college career. He has since played in "places like Sioux Falls, SD; Yakima, Wash.; and a small port city on Germany's North Sea coast." He stopped playing altogether in 2020 following a hip injury. It adds that it appears Jenkins wouldn't be able to benefit from the potential antitrust settlement even if he wanted to, as it will provide back pay to Power Five men's and women's basketball players; the Big East, which Villanova is a part of, isn't in that segment. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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