Accusations of money theft fly after shocking exit of UNLV QB Matt Sluka

UNLV claims former quarterback Matt Sluka is bluffing over his shock decision to leave the program over a dispute over a $100,000 zero salary.

“I thought his market value was higher than what he was worth here,” UNLV coach Barry Odom told CBS.

After Sluka alleged that UNLV failed to pay his portion of a six-figure salary, the Rebels’ athletic program and the Name Image Likeness (NIL) collective allege that Sluka’s actions were instead an attempt to capitalize on a good start and receive more money than previously negotiated.

The quarterback made his departure official late Tuesday night in one of the most bizarre NIL stories in this new era of college sports.

Sluka’s camp claimed to ESPN that he received none of the $100,000 he negotiated with an assistant after agreeing to a transfer from Holy Cross, and that he received only $3,000 in a relocation allowance.

The quarterback’s side alleges that UNLV instead made a counteroffer of $3,000 over four months, which would have been $88,000 less than the supposed original proposal.

They insisted that they were only asking for the amount that had been discussed.

UNLV, however, portrays Sluka’s actions as a money-grabbing scheme and says it honored his “previously agreed-upon scholarships.”

“The representative for football player Matthew Sluka has made financial demands of the university and its NIL collective in order to continue playing,” the UNLV athletic department said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “UNLV Athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of NCAA pay-per-game rules as well as Nevada law. UNLV does not engage in such activities or respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.

“UNLV has conducted its due diligence and will continue to operate its programs within the framework of NCAA rules and regulations, as well as the laws of the state of Nevada.”

An important point in this argument revolves around what was promised verbally and what was actually recorded in writing.

Bob Sluka, Matt’s father, told ESPN that Odom said in a phone call that the $100,000 offer didn’t stand up because it came from offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and not him.

Odom previously told CBS: “There was nothing tying him to us other than a handshake and ‘Yeah, I’ll be right there,’ until he got on campus. And that’s the way the rules were then.”

Rob Sine, the CEO of Blueprint Sports, which runs UNLV’s NIL Collective, Friends of UNILV, told CBS that it did not agree to the $100,000 figure that Sluka’s camp mentioned and that it has made all promised payments.

He told ESPN that the collective paid Sluka $3,000 for a performance this summer.

“We were first introduced to the agent less than a month ago and the agent said he wanted to explore options for his client,” Sine told CBS. “We let him know he wasn’t registered with the state or the school and that he needed to be registered, so the athlete needed to talk to the coaches directly. There was a discussion via email about $3,000 a month of recurring payment and then the agent said no, we’re still in discussions, we’ll let you know how it goes, don’t put my athlete in your program yet. And that was it. All of this happened in the span of less than a few weeks. We never agreed to $100,000, we were never told that that was the amount. I’m learning a lot about this, as are you guys.

“The collective is in great shape and has made all the payments that were necessary and has fulfilled every obligation that we have made. Everything that we do is contracted, we do nothing verbally. We have documentation of every deal that we do. There was nothing for this guy. He got $3,000 from us this summer and that was it. We took care of that.”

Friends of UNILV said in a statement that no “formal” offers have been made to the quarterback.

“To be clear, no NIL offers were made during Mr. Sluka’s recruitment process,” the statement said. “Furthermore, Friends of UNILV did not finalize or agree to any NIL offers while he was on the team, other than a completed community engagement event over the summer.

“At Blueprint Sports and Friends of UNILV we take our obligations very seriously. We would like to emphasize that we have honored all Friends of UNILV contracts this season and have not breached any agreement with Mr. Sluka.”

While both sides attempted to find middle ground, Sluka offered UNLV a deal that would have paid him less than half of the $100,000 figure, according to CBS, but the sides could not reach an agreement and the undefeated Rebels are now without their starting quarterback.

Sluka now has the opportunity to sign with another program and retain his playing eligibility.

“I committed to UNLV based on certain representations made to me that were not honored after I enrolled,” Sluka posted on social media. “Despite the conversations, it became clear that these commitments would not be honored going forward. I wish my teammates the best of luck this season and hope for the continued success of the program.”

Sluka’s departure is already causing a stir, as the previously favoured Rebels have gone from favourites to underdogs, only to be back to being two-point favourites according to ESPN Bet in the last 24 hours.