Former Ohio State Buckeyes Kaleb Wesson, Kyle Young ready for retroactive NIL payday
The day job keeps Kyle Young plenty busy. An employee at Paragon 28, the former Ohio State captain spends much of his time driving around on sales calls for the company that traffics in foot and ankle supplies.
Then there’s also the burgeoning real estate business. Young got his realtors’ license in May and works for The Goldman Group as part of Next Home Experience, selling homes in central Ohio. Oh, and when he’s not tending to a family that now has two children, Young has started training local basketball players as part of his YoungStrong brand.
The days are often long, but it’s a path Young said he is happy to walk because he gets to work with folks in the community, spend time with doctors and also keep his toes in the basketball world while helping raise his family.
Hopes of a full-time basketball career were snuffed out as a series of injuries piled up during Young’s five years at Ohio State, and with them the opportunity to potentially bring in a bigger paycheck down the road.
Now, the past could have an impact in helping Young’s future. As part of the House v. NCAA settlement announced in late May, roughly $2.8 billion will be distributed to former players as back pay for name, image and likeness rights they were not permitted to receive while in college.
Specifics about the situation remain elusive other than 2016 is the cutoff year. How much each player will receive and when he or she will receive it remains unknown. But whatever it is, and whenever it comes, Young is one of so many former student-athletes who could use the extra cash.
“It’s just something I believe in God’s timing and there’s a reason I didn’t go on to play,” Young said. “I’m happy with the life I’m living. I love my family. I love being a father. To see something else come in (financially), I’d still feel good and happy about it if I got something good from this all.”
Young arrived at Ohio State in 2017 and played in 135 games during five seasons, taking advantage of the extra year afforded to all players who participated during the 2020-21 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Although he was unable to finish his career on his own terms, missing the final minutes of a season-ending loss to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Young said he does not have ongoing medical bills related to his Ohio State tenure.
He just wasn’t able to keep playing.
“My whole time at Ohio State with how I played, I felt like I was essentially sacrificing my body, going out there and giving it my all,” Young said. “This (opportunity) was something for me that hit and I was like, wow, I’d be very grateful and thankful for that just based on those things.”
During his final season in 2021-22, players were first allowed to begin to profit from their NIL rights. Skepticism reigned, and the market reflected it. Although he was a fan favorite for his style of play and Ohio ties, the opportunities for Young did not compare to the current market in which Washington’s Grant Osobor and Kansas State’s Coleman Hawkins have both reportedly inked $2 million NIL deals for 2024-25.
“I think I could’ve done well (now),” Young said. “In 2022 it was kind of like a trial run and I got to have a few months of it, but all the businesses were hesitant. There was no research behind this stuff. They didn’t know in terms of return on investment what this stuff would look like.”
He’s far from the only one who conceivably would’ve done well with NIL opportunities at Ohio State. Westerville South product Kaleb Wesson played three seasons for the Buckeyes before starting a professional career following the 2019-20 season. An affable, outgoing personality who led the Buckeyes in scoring and rebounding in each of his final two seasons and the son of an Ohio State alumnus, Wesson never had the opportunity to make money while playing for his hometown university.
Now in the midst of a run with Carmen’s Crew in The Basketball Tournament and fresh off a year spent playing in Bulgaria and France, Wesson said he’s grateful for the platform Ohio State provided and the education, scholarship and cost of living stipend players received. He didn’t go into college expecting to simultaneously be paid.
But given the dollar amounts being generated, Wesson said it’s only fair now that players will retroactively make some money.
“There’s a lot of guys who didn’t experience what these guys are experiencing now and I think it’s great,” he said. “Guys who played at a high level and changed programs and turned programs around essentially. They didn’t get anything for it, honestly. They got a pat on the back and a good education. There’s a lot of money to be made in that.
“The biggest thing for me was that they’re finally recognizing the players who played at these schools that changed the program around.”
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Both former Buckeyes stressed that they’re financially doing fine and that whatever payments will eventually come their way will be helpful bonuses atop their current salaries. The expectations are not that they will receive "life-changing money," as Wesson put it, but it will be something to help make up for what they were not allowed to earn while in school.
Meanwhile, both will continue to further their careers. Young, Wesson and three other former Buckeyes will play for Carmen’s Crew, keeping their hoop dreams alive with bonus potential to bring home a share of the $1 million prize paid out to the champions.
This time, they’ll do so knowing another payday is on the way. Eventually. And finally.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Kaleb Wesson, Kyle Young ready for retroactive NIL payday
