ROSEMONT, Ill. — During a phone conversation in December, an assistant coach at UNLV made a pitch to quarterback Matthew Sluka: Come play here and we’ll pay you $100,000.
That is at least according to Sluka’s agent Marcus Cromartie.
Nine months later, with the Rebels undefeated, ranked in the top 25 and, for now, the Group of Five’s favorite to claim a College Football Playoff spot, Sluka is no longer part of the team after he was not paid the promised amount.
The decision sent shockwaves through college athletics at a sensitive time in the industry and on a timely week: The sport’s leaders, the Division I conference commissioners and NCAA president Charlie Baker, are gathering Wednesday and Thursday for their annual meeting at Big Ten headquarters in the suburbs of Chicago.