Miami star Isaiah Wong moves if NIL salary doesn’t rise

This is the other side of name, image and likeness, the ugly side, the side that was bound to come out.

With money being thrown around and more and more boosters and agents involved, jealousy was bound to ensue. There would be unlucky players who wanted more money – and it would eventually be played out publicly.

In the case of Miami and Isaiah Wong, that’s exactly what’s happening. Thursday night, the New Jersey native and All-ACC player’s agent spoke to ESPN and demanded that his contract with a Miami booster be renewed or that he consider a transfer. This came on the heels of the booster, billionaire John Ruiz, who paid a wire transfer, senior Kansas state guard Nijel Pack, $800,000 over two years plus a car to join the Hurricanes through his company LifeWallet.

“If Isaiah and his family feel that the NIL number is not what they expected, they will enter the transfer portal [on Friday], while maintaining his eligibility for the NBA draft and going through the draft process,” Wong’s agent, NEXT Sports Agency’s Adam Papas, told ESPN. “Isaiah would like to stay in Miami. He had a great season and led his team into the Elite Eight.

“He’s seen what incoming Miami Hurricane basketball players get in NIL and wants his NIL to reflect that he was team leader on an Elite Eight team.”

Papas ironically represents both players and brokered a previous deal between Wong and Ruiz.

“Isaiah is under contract,” Ruiz said. “He was treated exceptionally well by LifeWallet. If he decides that way, I wish him the best, but I’m NOT renegotiating! I can’t tell the amount, but what I can say is that he was treated very fairly.”

NIL is history in college basketball recruitment as transfers are through the roof and players are well compensated. Several coaches told the Post that it’s all everyone — recruits, their families, handlers, and coaches — want to talk about when it comes to recruitment.

It hasn’t helped that the NCAA hasn’t developed specific guidelines for NIL and there is uncertainty about what is and isn’t allowed, and that has led to this clear pay-for-play situation in Miami being played at one public forum.