Former Bonner-Prendergast and current Miami star Isaiah Wong backtracks, will not enter transfer portal due to NIL compensation
Wong, who would be a fourth-year junior next season, initially wanted his NIL compensation to fall in line with the lucrative deals that several incoming Miami athletes have recently secured.
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Miami star Isaiah Wong, a Bonner-Prendergast grad, made waves Thursday night after it was announced he would look to transfer if his name, image, and likeness compensation (NIL) was not increased. On Friday, he backtracked, telling ESPN he will no longer enter the transfer portal and he will keep his current NIL deal.
Wong’s agent, Adam Papas of NEXT Sports Agency, had told ESPN Thursday that the small forward would enter the transfer portal Friday if Wong’s demands were not met. Wong was the first college player to publicly threaten to transfer for NIL reasons.
Wong, though, changed course Friday after he and his representatives discussed his situation with Miami billionaire John Ruiz. Ruiz, who facilitated Wong’s current NIL deal with his company LifeWallet, has 111 NIL deals with current Miami Hurricanes athletes, according to the Miami Herald.
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A third-year sophomore last season, Wong is coming off a campaign in which he was Miami’s second-leading scorer at 15.3 points per game and led the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight. The Piscataway native, who finished his high school career at Bonner-Prendergast by winning two Catholic League MVPs, averaged 16.3 ppg during Miami’s tournament run and declared for the NBA draft — while leaving open the possibility he could return to college — on April 25.
“Isaiah would like to stay at Miami,” Papas said Thursday. “He had a great season leading his team to the Elite Eight. He has seen what incoming Miami Hurricane basketball players are getting in NIL and would like his NIL to reflect that he was a team leader of an Elite Eight team.”
Papas also represents guard Nijel Pack, who recently transferred to Miami from Kansas State. Pack, one of the most in-demand transfers in the country, reportedly will earn $800,000 over the next two years in an NIL deal negotiated by Ruiz that also includes a car.
“Glad Wong didn’t enter the portal,” Ruiz wrote on Twitter Friday. “This is a great youngster and his mom is amazing. The deal remains the same, however, as I said day one I will help him get other NIL deals.”
Ruiz said Thursday he would not “renegotiate” with Wong but made no mention publicly of the possibility of helping Wong secure other NIL deals.
Florida state law currently prohibits schools from directly negotiating NIL deals. Wong, who has two seasons of eligibility remaining, would have to enter the transfer portal by May 1 to be eligible for next season.