Good for him! Go Quincy and go Terps!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if he's also worried about becoming burned out if he went to one of the big SEC track schools. They run a TON of meets (more than Maryland) and have burned out/injured many promising athletes.

I think he would have been very carefully managed at any school, part of him coming there, but that is certainly a valid concern. You are not going to see him at many meets as a freshman.

Looking at his last couple years, he's already had hamstring injuries in both 2024 and 2025. The NCAA grind of a top-shelf program is probably considered too risky, even if he isn't running in every meet.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if he's also worried about becoming burned out if he went to one of the big SEC track schools. They run a TON of meets (more than Maryland) and have burned out/injured many promising athletes.

He will also get a lot more say in his training schedule and what meets he wants/doesn't want to do if he's not with one of the big schools that is trying to win a national title.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if he's also worried about becoming burned out if he went to one of the big SEC track schools. They run a TON of meets (more than Maryland) and have burned out/injured many promising athletes.

I think he would have been very carefully managed at any school, part of him coming there, but that is certainly a valid concern. You are not going to see him at many meets as a freshman.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he does 1 year of NCAA, takes his "sophomore" year off for the Olympics and turns pro assuming he's healthy, etc.. He will then continue to train at UMD though with their coach and his current coach. The deal probably includes full tuition regardless of him running and yes, insane NIL.

Again, NIL does not work that way. The school itself does not make a "NIL deal" with you and schools still cannot pay athletes.

NIL typically just means you can take endorsement money from brands as a college athlete, which you were previously prohibited from doing. Similar to how pro athletes can take money from brands in exchange for doing commercials on TV.

Outside NIL deals typically cannot be used as recruiting tools, either.

I’ve seen stories of organized single-university sports booster NIL groups. I’m not certain you’re giving the whole picture by painting it as one star, one industry contract, even if Wilson has NB.

Correct, look at what happened at Michigan last year, NIL was mostly responsible for changing a commitment for a huge star - https://heavy.com/sports/college-football/michigan-wolverines/bryce-underwood-nil-deal-money-how-much/

I wonder if he's also worried about becoming burned out if he went to one of the big SEC track schools. They run a TON of meets (more than Maryland) and have burned out/injured many promising athletes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he does 1 year of NCAA, takes his "sophomore" year off for the Olympics and turns pro assuming he's healthy, etc.. He will then continue to train at UMD though with their coach and his current coach. The deal probably includes full tuition regardless of him running and yes, insane NIL.

Again, NIL does not work that way. The school itself does not make a "NIL deal" with you and schools still cannot pay athletes.

NIL typically just means you can take endorsement money from brands as a college athlete, which you were previously prohibited from doing. Similar to how pro athletes can take money from brands in exchange for doing commercials on TV.

Outside NIL deals typically cannot be used as recruiting tools, either.

PP - There are MANY ways to structure NIL now. He's already had an agent for several years, I am sure $$$$ was compared between schools in various packages. Boosters can do a lot. And sure track might not have a huge following, but he's positioned to be a star outside of track. He's already got a huge SM following, he's smart, well-spoken, charismatic, the full package. He's also going to pull in other T&F athletes, and maybe even other sports, who weren't previously considering Maryland. Even if he only stays for a year. This wasn't just an athletic decision, there was absolutely business considerations behind it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he does 1 year of NCAA, takes his "sophomore" year off for the Olympics and turns pro assuming he's healthy, etc.. He will then continue to train at UMD though with their coach and his current coach. The deal probably includes full tuition regardless of him running and yes, insane NIL.

Again, NIL does not work that way. The school itself does not make a "NIL deal" with you and schools still cannot pay athletes.

NIL typically just means you can take endorsement money from brands as a college athlete, which you were previously prohibited from doing. Similar to how pro athletes can take money from brands in exchange for doing commercials on TV.

Outside NIL deals typically cannot be used as recruiting tools, either.

I’ve seen stories of organized single-university sports booster NIL groups. I’m not certain you’re giving the whole picture by painting it as one star, one industry contract, even if Wilson has NB.

Anonymous wrote:I think he does 1 year of NCAA, takes his "sophomore" year off for the Olympics and turns pro assuming he's healthy, etc.. He will then continue to train at UMD though with their coach and his current coach. The deal probably includes full tuition regardless of him running and yes, insane NIL.

Again, NIL does not work that way. The school itself does not make a "NIL deal" with you and schools still cannot pay athletes.

NIL typically just means you can take endorsement money from brands as a college athlete, which you were previously prohibited from doing. Similar to how pro athletes can take money from brands in exchange for doing commercials on TV.

Outside NIL deals typically cannot be used as recruiting tools, either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think he does 1 year of NCAA, takes his "sophomore" year off for the Olympics and turns pro assuming he's healthy, etc.. He will then continue to train at UMD though with their coach and his current coach. The deal probably includes full tuition regardless of him running and yes, insane NIL.

Yes, agreed! It makes zero sense for him to run 4 years at UMD. It's a dinky program. He wouldn't have relay teammates anywhere near his level. It would be like being recruited for Duke basketball and choosing to stay local and play at AU. Really weird choice unless you're just using their track, staying with your parents and planning on moving on soon.

I'm not sure relay teammates matter that much in our current system. Most relay runners in the US selected to run on the Olympic or World team don't train together other than during a short prep window and most focus almost all training on their individual events.

Of course, that may explain why the US has had some disastrously bad outcomes in relays due to dropped batons and the like.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smart kid - stay close to family, close to home, stay with your coach. He's keeping his routine, instead of moving far from everyone he knows and getting caught up in the hype as a campus "celebrity."

His NIL contract is going to be insane.

Will his NIL contract be public? The amount of attention he’s going to bring the school, he’s worth every penny.

There is no single "NIL Contract" someone gets. Your NIL earnings are from many sources/advertisers who are free to sign individual endorsement deals with you.

I'm not sure his NIL earnings will actually be "insane" as track is just not that popular to begin with, especially for a 400m runner.

He'll run one year of NCAA and then go pro immediately after the season ends. In order to be prepared for the Olympics, he needs to run against pro-level athletes in meets like Diamond League meets.

400m competition is very tough internationally right now. The US is no longer dominant. The best an American did at the World Championships was 7th. Botswana is the dominant team now in the relays and they have 2 of the top 3 in that event.

Anonymous wrote:My kid who is really into track pointed out that he may not be at MD for all 4 years; he might go pro before graduating. Never thought of that but it makes sense.

He will probably go pro after one year, which is why it doesn't make sense to relocate away from coaches. Some track athletes take longer to peak and spend 4 years in NCAA but with someone who is at Quincy's level at his age, the general trend is to run for one year at NCAA and then go pro and do stuff like Diamond League.

That's why Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone did. Run one season at Kentucky, break the world junior records and NCAA records in the 400m hurdles, and then turned pro. I believe Athing Mu did something similar where she ran one season at Texas A&M, broke the 800m records, and then turned pro.

Anonymous wrote:I think he does 1 year of NCAA, takes his "sophomore" year off for the Olympics and turns pro assuming he's healthy, etc.. He will then continue to train at UMD though with their coach and his current coach. The deal probably includes full tuition regardless of him running and yes, insane NIL.

Yes, agreed! It makes zero sense for him to run 4 years at UMD. It's a dinky program. He wouldn't have relay teammates anywhere near his level. It would be like being recruited for Duke basketball and choosing to stay local and play at AU. Really weird choice unless you're just using their track, staying with your parents and planning on moving on soon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Smart kid - stay close to family, close to home, stay with your coach. He's keeping his routine, instead of moving far from everyone he knows and getting caught up in the hype as a campus "celebrity."

His NIL contract is going to be insane.

Does track really promise “insane” NIL money, even for an Olympian? It’s a sport that really doesn’t attract much attention outside of Olympic years.

track has a huge following.

No, it does not. Professional track meets have to give away free tickets.