Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris emailed student-athletes and coaches of the league’s decision to opt out of the House v. NCAA settlement on Jan. 21. This announcement sparked a range of reactions in Cornell’s athletic world — from remorse to relief.
Historically, athletes in the National Collegiate Athletics Association had been prevented from earning money off their name, image and likeness, until 2021 when the NCAA decided to overturn the policy. Now, the proposed settlement will require the NCAA to pay $2.78 billion in back pay to athletes who played between 2016 and 2021 to compensate for missed profit off of their NIL.
However, since the Ivy League opted out of the settlement, former Cornell athletes would not qualify for any back pay on NIL profits that the settlement would provide if passed. According to Harris’ email, Ivy League schools will continue to refrain from providing student-athletes with revenue-sharing allocations, athletic scholarships or direct NIL payments. Ivy League teams will not have to follow roster limitations set by the NCAA.
The Sun spoke to three Cornell athletes — senior football quarterback Jameson Wang, junior football wide receiver Doryn Smith and former Cornell volleyball player Sydney Moore ’24 — along with sprint football head coach and sports lawyer Prof. Michael L. Huyghue ’83, law, to better understand the decision.
Wang described his initial reaction to the Ivy League’s decision as “disappointing” to all the student-athletes who “worked hard to get into and excel at an Ivy League.”
While Wang does not think the Ivy League will become less competitive, he acknowledged the impact of the settlement.
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“If schools were able to leverage money to attract high-level recruits, the competition among the [Ivy] League schools would only increase.”
In the Jan. 21 email, Harris stated that the Ivy League’s Division I status and participation in NCAA championships will not be impacted by the opt-out move.
Wang also detailed other ways the Ivy League is moving in the right “competitive direction,” such as the Dec. 18 decision to allow the Ivy League to participate in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs starting in the 2025 season.
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Wang is active in the NIL space. He had partnerships with Degree Deodorant as a part of their Breaking Limits Team campaign and Wilson Football, among other companies.
Smith also expressed that the decision was “unfortunate and disappointing” to him as he enters his final season with the Red.
“Even though the academics here are world-class, being an athlete here is a time-consuming commitment,” Smith said. “I can understand [Ivy League’s] perspective on opting out, but I still think that athletes deserve some sort of support, whether it be financial or just help in the NIL world.”
Smith has had a variety of NIL profits as a wide receiver for the Red. He was a Brooks Running ambassador and currently works with Gainful.

On Moore’s podcast, Let’s Talk About It, she interviewed attorney Stephanie Verdoia, who worked on House vs. NCAA, about the implications of the case.
Moore recently finished her last season of eligibility in the Atlantic Coast Conference at Syracuse University — a team that will not be opting out of the NCAA settlement. She said she was “not surprised” by the settlement. Moore said she understood that, if she had filed a claim as a former Cornell athlete to receive reimbursement, she “would not have received the same value as athletes who participated in Division I sports outside the Ivy League.”
“I think the Ivy League should definitely consider giving athletic scholarships,” Moore said. “We are a competitive athletic conference but, considering the facts of the case and what an Ivy League athlete is signing up for, I do not think we necessarily fit the case.”
Huyghue asserted that not opting in allows the Ivy League to maintain its “core traditions and standards.”
“The reality is that college is not a four-year decision. It’s a 40-year decision,” Huyghue said. “Athletes that go to Ivy League schools are going to benefit far more than the amount of money that some [athletes] will receive to go to schools that do not have the same level of academics.”
An Ivy League degree has been valued by students and employers for its prestige and access to research and resources. Huyghue, who lettered in football and baseball for the Red, accredited his success to his Cornell education.
“Sports was definitely the most important thing to me and yet I became a lawyer, commissioner and a general manager,” Huyghue said. “It’s why I’m here every day trying to do everything I can to give the same experience to other students.”
Opting Out and Moving On: The Future of Athletics
Effective immediately, all Division I athletes will be required to report any third-party NIL deals of $600 or more to their member institution in which they are enrolled and/or a designated reporting entity, aiming to prevent abuse or exploitation of these deals, according to the NCAA.
The main questions on everyone’s minds now: what will the future of athletics look like? Will recruiting processes be impacted?
From a coach’s perspective, Huyghue stated he believed that recruiting would not be impacted as there will always be a “value of a Cornell degree” that athletes will remain attracted to.
Huyghue considered the ethical responsibility of giving young athletes the ability to profit off their abilities without giving them the tools to manage their wealth or a backup plan for potential injuries would cause more harm in the long run.
“We have an educational responsibility and fiduciary responsibility that doesn’t exist in the pros that these schools should seriously evaluate,” Huyghue said.
The idea of walking on to an Ivy League sport is protected by opting out because the decision does not subject teams to roster limitations.
“What will hurt programs that opt into the [settlement] is it will almost eliminate walk-ons,” Huyghue said. “It’s amazing how walking [on] can still end up being a significant part of your team. … Undrafted players in the National Football League — about 15 percent of them are starters.”
Not having roster caps also prevents athletes on teams from being cut. Moore, who played volleyball for Syracuse this past year, has seen the downsides to these roster cuts firsthand.
“The grass is not greener in the Power Five. I have friends on the [Syracuse] women’s field hockey and soccer that are being cut,” Moore said. “[Athletes] are not protected and are having a hard time transferring to pursue their sports elsewhere.”
Further, opting out may be seen as a way for the Ivy League to support Title IX, a federal law that prohibits sexual discrimination in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding.
Schools that opt in to the settlement are eligible to receive funds from the NCAA to spend on their athletic programs. They are expected to be able to divide this money between their various teams at their own discretion. This draws concerns that larger, more popular sports could receive more funding whereas smaller sports are at risk of losing funds.
“Are the schools opting in even going to worry about Title IX? How will they determine which sports get ‘x’ amount of dollars?” Moore said. “It’s not just gender equity but also [the] popularity of a sport that could be jeopardized.”
So, are there other ways for the Ivies to support their student athletes’ needs? Wang says he hopes to see the Ivy League assist athletes in paying for tuition.
“By opting out, you are not [helping] student-athletes pay for tuition, so [you are] placing the burden of tuition on students and their parents,” Wang said. “Making them find other ways to pay just does not seem fair to me.”
Wang added that he has had to find other ways to pay for school, including starting his own shoe reselling company, 8erakicks.
Smith said he wants to see the Ivy League support its athletes in NIL deals.
“More assistance navigating life as a college student, paying tuition, find[ing] a balance with school and your sport,” Smith said. “We definitely deserve some kind of compensation for our competitiveness so I think it is a question of what [the Ivy League] is willing to do for us, [and] how much do they value their athletes.”