Opting In
While it never confirmed this in public, Georgetown University has opted in for the House v NCAA settlement, according to the College Sports Commission (CSC).
The CSC, a new entity that will govern name, image, and likeness payments in conjunction with the NCAA, lists Georgetown among 310 Division I schools opting into the agreement, which allows universities to offer direct revenue sharing with student-athletes. All 11 Big East schools opted in; notable opt-outs included the military academies, the Ivy League, the Patriot League, The Citadel, VMI, and nine of the ten schools of the Northeast Conference. Nine schools below Division I opted in as well, mostly among schools playing a single Division I sport, such as Johns Hopkins lacrosse."The cap for the 2025-26 academic year is $20.5 million per school," reads its web site. "With a few potential exceptions, the cap will then increase four percent the following two years and will be reevaluated every three years over the duration of the 10-year settlement period. Student-athletes can receive this direct compensation in addition to their athletic scholarships, third-party NIL earnings and other previously permitted educational benefits." Georgetown has not disclosed the amount it intends to share, nor which sports outside men's basketball would be eligible.
The agreement, as discussed last year on this site, allows opt-in schools to offer full scholarships for all roster positions across all sports, subject to a roster cap per sport. The cost of full scholarships makes full-roster scholarships infeasible at Georgetown; for example, men's lacrosse increasing from a limit of 12.6 to as many as 48 scholarships, and football jumping to 105.
As to men's basketball (a roster cap of 15), the 2025-26 Georgetown roster has 12 scholarship players and four walk-ons; however, the walk-ons are grandfathered in for the duration of their eligibility.
Kenner League On The Move Again
Following an abbreviated schedule at Bowie State University last summer, the Kenner League will relocate to Catholic University July 19, per a social media post.
Founded in 1982 and held at McDonough Gymnasium through 2023, the summer league could not secure an agreement with Georgetown last summer over the use of the gymnasium. Similar efforts to play at Burr Gymnasium (Howard) and the UDC athletic center fell though, leading the league to move to Bowie State for an amended four weekend slate in 2024."Based on conversation with multiple sources, blame touches upon money primarily, as in charged and paid, along with frayed relationships and possibly unreasonable expectations," wrote Ron Bailey at Hoya Report last summer.
Amid separate reports that Nike is no longer a presenting sponsor of the event, Kenner director Van Johnson posted the following message on Tuesday:
We are 5 days away from Kenner Summer League games starting at Catholic U. Wanted to send out the Schedule. The league is NCAA approved. Division 1 players are eligible to play. Enclosed is the schedule if you have any questions. Feel free to DM me.
— Van Johnson, Jr. (@johnsonvj05) July 14, 2025
Best Kenner League pic.twitter.com/yXErz32JgW
In its formative years, Kenner was seen as a means to provide supervised competitive opportunities to Georgetown freshmen and other college newcomers in a period where formal practices under direct coaching supervision were not allowed by the NCAA. Subsequent changes to those rules and the presence of a full-time practice facility at Georgetown reduces the need of players to stay in shape over the summer and compete in events such as these.
In addition, as more players across schools stay on their respective campuses and do not return home for the summer, fewer Division I players are likely to compete. Further, the occasional appearances of pro players to compete in Kenner has been largely militated by NBA Summer League commitments and liability issues which restrict outside activity by NBA and G-League talent.
Absent the Kenner League or a public scrimmage, Georgetown fans may not be seeing the 2025-26 team in any competitive setting until its October 18 exhibition at George Washington.
Edward J. Gallaher III (1935-2025)
Edward Gallaher (C'58), a member of the 1955-56 Georgetown varsity, died July 1 at the age of 89.
A 6-3 guard from Hagerstown, MD, Gallaher played in two games his sophomore season before moving on to baseball, where he played three seasons as a pitcher. Following Georgetown, he served 35 years in the U.S. Navy and also worked in the Office of Naval Intelligence before retiring in 1996.Survived by his wife, six children, 17 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren, internment is scheduled for Arlington National Cemetery.
Big East Signs Deal With ESPN
As with politics, college sports sometimes makes strange bedfellows, as per Tuesday's announcement by the Big East Conference of a six year multimedia rights deal with ESPN across multiple sports, including men's basketball, beginning this season.
"This deal, which is... done directly with the conference, will see 25 non-conference men's basketball games stream on ESPN+ starting with the 2025-26 school year," writes Sports Business Journal. "The tonnage within the pact, which was previously with FloSports over the last three school years (under the Big East Digital Network banner), is a minimum of 75 women's basketball games and 200 Olympic sports events. Sources close to the situation said that a rights fee is involved, and the Big East will produce all streamed games."The games will only be seen on ESPN's streaming services, either through ESPN+ or its direct to consumer streaming app.
"This exciting partnership with ESPN reinforces our commitment to placing Big East teams front and center on the leading digital sports platform," said commissioner Val Ackerman in a news release. "Streaming on ESPN+ gives all 22 of our sports, especially women's basketball and Olympic sports, the visibility they've earned and the access our fans expect. We look forward to delivering elevated coverage and a streamlined viewing experience to fans and family members who want to follow Big East action across our wide array of sports offerings."
"We're pleased to welcome the Big East back to ESPN," said ESPN SVP Nick Dawson. "This agreement returns one of the country's premier conferences and its tradition of excellence to ESPN platforms. We look forward to this new chapter in our relationship with the Big East."
Headquartered in Bristol, CT, the network was a partner of the Big East almost from its start in 1979, and served as its media rights partner from 1979 through 2013. Following the decision by Big East university presidents in 2011 to open its media rights package to other bidders, evidence leaked that ESPN worked to destabilize the Big East to reduce the rights fee to take advantage of its right of first refusal, including steering many of the conference's football programs to the Atlantic Coast Conference instead. This effort was confirmed when Boston College athletic director Gene DeFillipo told the Boston Globe that "ESPN is the one who told us what to do" regarding expansion. (DeFillipo apologized two days later, claiming these were "personal feelings" and that he was not speaking for the ACC.)
ESPN's right of first refusal clause was masterfully avoided when seven Big East schools withdrew from the previous corporate structure based in Providence in December 2012, reincorporated in New York, and bought the Big East name and intellectual property from what is now the American Athletic Conference in early 2013. As ESPN's prior agreement was with the Rhode Island entity, the new Big East signed with Fox Sports without ESPN exercising a right of first refusal. (ESPN continues to be a media rights partner of the American Athletic Conference, which has only one school remaining from the 2013 Big East split: South Florida.)
Entering the 2025-26 season, Georgetown men's basketball games will now be seen on a variety of networks: Fox Broadcast, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, NBC, Peacock (streaming only), TNT, TruTV, TBS, MAX (streaming only) and now ESPN (streaming only). The agreements are coterminous through the 2030-31 season.
Peavy Signs NBA Contract
The New Orleans Pelicans have come to contract terms with former Georgetown forward Micah Peavy, per the New Orleans Times-Picayune and various NBA writes on social media.
The 23 year old Peavy signed a four year, $8.7 million contract with the Pelicans, with two of the four years guaranteed. It's a strong contract for a second round selection and a show of support for what Peavy will provide the team."Micah is a really good defender," said New Orleans summer league coach Corey Brewer. "You can tell that he loves to play defense and he plays hard. For us around here, that's a breath of fresh air and we are happy to have him."
