What is Coastal Sports Collective? Explaining CCU’s new NIL collective

CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF) - A new group looking to help Coastal Carolina University student-athletes earn from their name, image and likeness has launched - but not without some confusion.

The new Coastal Sports Collective was launched earlier this week as the “official collective” for CCU student-athletes, despite not being directly affiliated with the school. That launch comes months after a similar group, The Teal Collective, shut down.

Lena Rabon, a former CCU golfer and deputy director for the Coastal Sports Collective, said their group wants to make sure fans know what’s going on with the school and NIL.

”It just goes along the lines of having one true collective and not a lot of outside entities,” she said. “And so it goes along with education so fans and donors and businesses have one point of contact in our area.”

Coastal Sports Collective allows fans who want to support athletes through NIL donations to pick a specific team they want their money to go towards. So fans can choose football, men’s or women’s basketball, or any other sport.

If fans don’t want to donate to a specific team but still want to support CCU student-athletes, they can also make a general donation. Rabon says that money will be distributed where it fits best.

Some examples include compensating athletes for appearances at events or putting the money toward sports that aren’t getting as many donations.

While it isn’t the only NIL collective for CCU student-athletes, it is the only one that covers all sports.

Another collective, Legacy14, launched in January to work specifically with baseball players.

Rabon said they’re not trying to step on Legacy14′s toes and respect what they do for those athletes.

“We have actually not talked to any baseball guys on the team. They do a fantastic job handling that so we just kind of step back from that as far as NIL deals go they’ve done amazing,” said Rabon. “So if someone wants to come in and donate through us they’re more than welcome to do so, but they do amazing and we don’t want to interfere with their amazingness right now.”

Part of Coastal Sports Collective’s mission is to use NIL as a recruitment tool. Rabon said that isn’t something coaches should have to worry about.

“The coaches, you know they don’t need to think about all this so that’s where we come in,” she said. “We kind of take that pressure of the thoughts off of them and all that. The rules change every day, every other hour, so we really take it one step at a time, and one day at a time.”

Rabon said the group has already met with coaches, including brand-new men’s basketball coach Justin Gray.

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