If it was up to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, the NCAA would have put guardrails in place before it ever allowed athletes to begin profiting from their name, image and likeness.
Smith was the co-chair of an NCAA working group, along with Big East commissioner Val Ackerman, that spent nearly two years putting together proposed legislation for the NCAA to govern name, image and likeness. The NCAA ultimately never adopted that legislative proposal, however, instead opting to allow NIL benefits without any formal regulations due to concerns that the NCAA would face lawsuits if it attempted to restrict NIL deals.