Sam Landau, a high-ranking tennis player, transferred to Duke University to complete his final two years of athletics eligibility. At that time, tennis head coach Ramsey Smith promised him $45,000 in NIL payments, on top of scholarships. Now, Landau has filed an objection to the House v. NCAA settlement, alleging those payments never came.
According to The Chronicle, Landau alleged that Smith “lured him to Duke on the false promise of substantial NIL payments and made retaliatory claims to discourage his complaints after breaching those promises."
Sam Landau, a high-ranking tennis player, transferred to Duke University to complete his final two years of athletics eligibility. At that time, tennis head coach Ramsey Smith promised him $45,000 in NIL payments, on top of scholarships. Now, Landau has filed an objection to the House v. NCAA settlement, alleging those payments never came.
According to The Chronicle, Landau alleged that Smith “lured him to Duke on the false promise of substantial NIL payments and made retaliatory claims to discourage his complaints after breaching those promises."Â
Despite being promised $45,000, Landau said he has only received $10,000 in NIL payments. Landau and his parents were also told that Duke athletics would cover 100% of his fifth semester and summer school tuition, class time he needed to complete his degree when the university did not accept all of his transfer credits.
Landau told The Chronicle that when he “approached athletic director Nina King about the breach of the NIL contract payment obligation, she took no action.”
Coach Smith, however, did take action when Landau confronted him about the missing payments. Landau said that Smith retaliated by claiming Landau “had been a drug addict.” That rumor quickly circulated through the team, as did another claim by Smith that Landau was behind a defamatory social media account, posting negatively about the Duke tennis team. Both rumors have been disputed by Landau and his legal team.
While many student-athletes with NIL disputes have opted to sue the coach or school directly, as in the case of Florida State’s men’s basketball program, Landau has yet to file a suit against Duke or coach Smith.
In his objection to the House settlement, Landau proposed a pathway for student-athletes to earn “unpaid but promised” NIL payments. Alternatively, Landau proposed that Judge Wilken exclude Duke from the settlement because, he claimed, the university cannot be trusted to adhere to the settlement.
