SALT LAKE CITY, UT – OCTOBER 24: AJ Dybantsa #3 of the Brigham Young Cougars is pressured by Jarin Stevenson #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of their exhibition game at the Delta Center on October 24, 2025 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
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The 2025-2026 college basketball season kicks off on November 3. The defending champion Florida Gators will give their title defense an early test against the mighty Arizona Wildcats. To help increase the Gators’ chance of a repeat, they have recruited elite transfer point guard Boogie Fland to join their squad. Unique to Fland is that On3 estimates his NIL valuation to be $2.1 million. According to SI.com, aggregate NIL payments are skyrocketing, as high as $2 billion. This article discusses the taxation of NIL and breaks down the Top 20 College Basketball players’ NIL and their corresponding tax liability associated with their earnings.
The Taxation Of NIL
Following landmark U.S. Federal Court decisions in O’Bannon vs. NCAA and NCAA vs. Alston, the NCAA was left in a situation where it could no longer prevent athletes from being paid for their name, image, and likeness – often abbreviated as NIL. Starting on July 1, 2025, the NCAA officially allowed athletes to be paid for their NIL without the athletes having to sacrifice their amateurism.
While many athletes welcomed this change, it also meant that they would now be subject to income taxation for these payments. According to Section 61 of the Internal Revenue Code, gross income is defined as all income from whatever source derived. While NIL is not explicitly listed as an example, the nature, extent, and timing of this compensation squarely fall within the definition.
As I previously reported in a Forbes contributor piece, this compensation can vary anywhere from payments for explicit services being provided – autograph sessions, commercials, endorsements – all the way to compensation in-kind. For instance, if an athlete receives use of a car as part of their NIL, the cost of using that car that the athlete does not have to pay is considered income. The athlete will then have to pay taxes on that income, even though the athlete is not being explicitly paid.
Different from pro athletes, college players are not necessarily subject to the “jock tax”. As I previously discussed in a Forbes contributor article, pro athletes are paid on a contract, and that contract is allocated to all of their days working in each of the different states, meaning that pro athletes are often subject to tax across many different jurisdictions with varying tax rates. On the contrary, college athletes’ NIL payments are not directly linked to their athletic performance, meaning that the athlete likely only needs to pay taxes in the jurisdiction where the money was earned, often the state in which their school is located.
Top 20 College Basketball NIL Valuations In 2025-2026
On3 provides an algorithm that estimates an athlete’s NIL valuation. Of note, this is not an exact amount as NIL deals are typically not disclosed publicly. However, their valuations provide a baseline estimation for what some of the top college athletes can expect to earn over the next 12 months.
Below is a table that outlines On3’s top 20 highest compensated college basketball NIL valuations for the 2025-2026 season. Using the data from On3, I estimate the athletes’ Federal Income Taxes owed, State Income Taxes owed, and total income tax bill. Notably, in this table, NIL valuations are treated as taxable income, meaning they do not factor in any possible deductions for business expenses or personal deductions (for example, the standard or itemized deduction). The calculations treat all athletes as single taxpayers with no dependents. The calculations are also assuming all income is earned in 2025. Lastly, this table does not include any consideration for other types of taxes like property, sales, and jock taxes. Instead, it focuses entirely on income taxes.
NIL Tax – College BBall
NIL Tax – College BBall
Freshman AJ Dybantsa Leads The Way With $4.1 Million NIL Valuation
Freshman Forward AJ Dybantsa leads the way with the highest NIL valuation. With an estimated value of $4.1 million, I estimate that his earnings after income taxes will amount to over $2.4 million. These taxes include Federal income taxes of $1,474,187 and Utah state income taxes of $186,550 (4.55% tax on all income earned). Dybantsa’s NIL valuation is over a million dollars more than the next highest NIL valuation, making him clearly the highest paid player in college basketball this season even after accounting for his tax bill.
Non-Blue Bloods Are Driving The Top Of The NIL
Only two of the top 15 NIL recruits comes from a team traditionally heralded as a college basketball “blue blood” – Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and UCLA. This notion holds true even if one were to use a more expansive list of blue bloods to include teams like Arizona, Indiana, Michigan State, UCONN, and Villanova. What this highlights is the growing trend that athletes are preferring to play for the more traditional powers at lower NIL over teams that might be able to pay more but have less historical prestige.
The Rise Of St. John’s NIL Money And The High New York State Income Tax Rate
A team that has risen in popularity in the NIL era has been St. John’s University. Located in New York, St. John’s has the benefit of playing home games in the famed Madison Square Garden. However, comes at a steep cost to it’s players when it comes to taxes. For instance, Bryce Hopkins has a 2025 NIL valuation of $1.7 million and will owe an estimated $586,1187 in Federal income taxes along with $131,541 in New York state income taxes. In comparison, Oscar Cluff of Purdue University has the same NIL valuation, but he will take home almost $100,000 more due to paying significantly less in income taxes in Indiana.
There Is No Clear Tax Pattern Among The Top 20 NIL Tax Earners
Unlike college football, which has many of its top NIL-earners coming from low or no-tax-rate jurisdictions, college basketball has a wider range of where these players are playing their college ball. Only three of the top 20 NIL earners in college basketball chose to play in a state with no state income tax. Furthermore, three of the players play for a team in a state that is often considered a high-income tax rate state – California and New York.