Gophers running back Darius Taylor, center, and agent John Waller from Team IFA, left, meet with Slice Pizza co-owner Adam Kado in downtown Minneapolis on June 21. (Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The role of sports agents was different when the Gophers hired Ben Johnson as men’s basketball coach in 2021 — just before name, image and likeness (NIL) rules were approved by the NCAA.

Agents primarily inhabited the pro sports world then.

Three years later, there’s a new, much more profitable landscape for college athletes. More money means more agents, specifically now dealing with NIL opportunities.

Johnson and other coaches found themselves in an uncomfortable space trying to negotiate to keep players on their rosters.

“There’s people you enjoy dealing with and maybe you don’t,” said Johnson, who had seven players enter the transfer portal after a 19-win season in 2023-24. “Any time there’s big money, there are people who have an agenda. You just hope that agenda is [for the] player.”

NIL agents are not required to be certified by the NCAA and certain states. As marketing agents, they look for whatever’s best for their players’ personal brand both financially and school-wise. Troubling tales exist, though, of athletes leaving schools for big payouts only to give 20% or more to agents in compensation — far from the standard.

“Now I think the pendulum swung too far in the other direction,” said Blake Baratz, founder of the Minneapolis-based agency Team IFA. “It’s kind of the wild, wild West without a governing body. Every school is operating differently with a different allocation of resources. We’re not all playing by the same set of rules, which makes it more difficult.”

Much more regulation could be needed as the potential profit for college athletes skyrockets.

The NCAA and power conferences agreed in May to settle antitrust lawsuits for $2.8 billion in damages to former college athletes in lost NIL earnings. They also approved a revenue-sharing model for schools to pay about $21 million annually to athletes starting in fall 2025.

Some athletes lean on school collectives to help them figure out the NIL process, including Gophers women’s basketball standout Mara Braun with Dinkytown Athletes. Others hire sports agencies with entire branches created for NIL.

What do the athletes get? NIL agencies help them with brand building, contracts with collectives, endorsement deals, social media partnerships and community outreach. New companies have jumped into the lucrative space, too.

The NIL boom

Chicago-based agent Jack Lieb founded a company called Fraction two years ago. He represents Gophers basketball leading scorer Dawson Garcia and starting guard Mike Mitchell Jr., who both turned down bigger NIL opportunities to stay at the U.

Some athletes aren’t just about their bank accounts.

“I don’t make decisions for kids; I advise kids,” Lieb said. “I’ve been able to hold true to these players, hold true to their families and their values and what they’re looking for with the best fit and [NIL] opportunities.”

Minnesota’s chances for successful men’s basketball and football seasons hung in the balance when players such as Garcia and Gophers football leading rusher Darius Taylor didn’t enter the portal chasing dollar signs.

They leaned on agents who were critical in the process of weighing the pros and cons of being loyal while making sure they still signed favorable NIL deals.

“It definitely does make it easier,” Garcia said. “The less people are shopping you around or talking about you behind the scenes the better.”

Agents can steer players toward certain schools for the right price. That can cause coaches and fans to lose sleep over ever-changing rosters in the NIL and transfer portal era.

Changing college sports

Maple Grove native Jack Hutchison, who walked on in basketball at Iowa State, works as an agent for Next Sports, which represents primarily NBA and international basketball players. Two seasons ago, Next Sports helped Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack sign a nearly $1 million NIL deal with Miami (Fla.) before leading that team to the Final Four.

Blue bloods no longer control who lands the top recruits or transfers.

“NIL has become a focal point for not only players and coaches but also on the agency side,” Hutchinson said. “It’s changed college sports from a recruiting standpoint.”

As former Iowa women’s hoops star Caitlin Clark proved last season, the most popular college athlete isn’t always on the male side.

There aren’t many sports agencies with only female athletes, but among the leaders in that field is Raymond Representation. Nearly half of its clients are from women’s hoops and Olympic sports, including Gophers gymnast Mya Hooten.

But the biggest NIL deals are still in college football, so that’s where more agents focus.

Imagine how different the prospects for P.J. Fleck’s Gophers would be entering this season if Taylor, one of the nation’s top running backs, had an agent who pushed him toward a monster NIL deal instead of Minnesota. That wasn’t the case with him and other Gophers.

“We saw a niche where we could benefit the players, benefit their families,” said Baratz, who also represents Gophers defensive end and LSU transfer Jaxon Howard. “The schools are appreciative that we do it the right way for the right reasons.”