Zach Edey is arguably one of the biggest names in men’s college basketball, but unlike other athletes in college who are making money off of their names, he cannot say the same.
Purdue center Zach Edey is a big, athletic, physical, presence and is a huge reason as to why the program is fighting to win a National Championship on Monday.
Edey’s skill set has made him the AP Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons, but U.S. government regulations have kept the bulk of potential NIL earnings out of reach.
Edey, who is Canadian and in school on an F-1 visa, isn’t legally allowed to capitalize on any NIL deals in America, according to ESPN.com.
Oren Weisfeld of Sportsnet further explained the issue that prevents international student-athletes from fully benefitting from the NIL policy.
“That’s because nearly all international student-athletes are on F-1 (student) visas, which do not allow them to engage in employment outside of ‘on-campus’ work or other specific programs geared toward career development such as an internship.
“They are unable to participate in ‘active’ engagements while on American soil, including most of the traditional influencer-based NIL activations such as posting on social media or filming a commercial.
“Foreign student-athletes are allowed to profit off ‘passive’ engagements, such as jersey sales or EA Sports video game licensing in America, but these tend to be a very small percentage of NIL profits for most athletes.”
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On Friday, Zach Edey spoke in frustration about those NIL laws and acknowledged that he’s almost certainly losing out on a ton of potential earnings.
“I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of money,” Edey said from Glendale, Arizona.
ESPN added that there are some loopholes as Edey can accept NIL money if the work that led to that money was done elsewhere. He can do NIL deals when he is home in Canada or when he or Purdue travels internationally.
He further added on Friday that he can make money off jersey sales, which he described as passive income.
“It’s not like I can go film a commercial in West Lafayette,” Edey said.
He did have hope that one day the law could be changed to allow international players to make money on domestic soil.
“I hope they change it in the future,” he said. “I obviously have lost out on a lot of money this year. At the end of the day, it needs to change, for sure. I understand kind of the legal process. It takes a while.
“It’s not like it’s an NCAA rule. It’s an American law. Anytime you try to go change that, I understand it takes a while. But I do think it needs to change.”
Zach Edey Helped Purdue Keep Their National Title Hopes Alive
Purdue advanced to its first title game since 1969 with their Final Four win over NC State.
Zach Edey, the 7-foot-4 center who played all 40 minutes, finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
He will need to be just as clutch against UConn on Monday if they want to win it all.
