NCAA president decries "synthetic NIL" from collectives

What they're saying: Baker described the brand deals and payments from collectives as "synthetic NIL," in a conversation with Axios' Dan Primack.

• "They spend a lot of time just circling and chasing kids. It's a very transactional activity."
• Collectives' biggest goal, according to Baker, is to convince players to enter the transfer portal, which allows athletes to switch schools without losing any eligibility.
• "They get a lot of kids in the transfer portal with a lot of stories that involve false promises, misrepresentations and all sorts of other things. There's basically no rules governing these things."

Stunning stat: About a third of students who enter the portal end up without a school, Baker said.

• "A lot of those kids don't end up anywhere."

What's next: The NIL era, which began in 2021, will change even more once the House vs. NCAA legal settlement becomes finalized next year.

• The antitrust settlement will allow schools to pay players directly while giving the NCAA more enforcement ability over NIL collectives.
• The settlement, which received preliminary approval earlier this month, is scheduled for final approval on April 7. That date coincides with the men's basketball March Madness national championship.

Fun fact: Baker cited a survey that said that 90% of women in the C-suite roles played college sports.

Go deeper: College sports prepares for major overhaul