When quarterback Nico Iamaleava signed a national letter of intent to play at Tennessee in December 2022, university-paid attorneys were already preparing to defend his rights to name, image and likeness benefits against the NCAA, reveal internal documents reviewed by Knox News.

UT had spent tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers to look out for the interests of Iamaleava, as well as other athletes in the NIL space, by the time the quarterback enrolled. NIL deals have become a dominant factor in the success of high-level recruiting in college sports − without them, a program can't land the best players.

By hiring expert help so early, the university got ahead of NCAA investigators who targeted specific schools for breaking NIL rules that ultimately were ruled invalid by a federal court.

It’s an eye-opening revelation that the NCAA investigation which came to light on Jan. 30, was already being anticipated by UT more than year ago.

Knox News obtained invoices through an open records request for legal fees that UT paid Bond, Schoeneck & King, the law firm that handled the recruiting scandal under fired football coach Jeremy Pruitt.

But a deeper dive revealed that there were two sets of BSK invoices for December 2022 to February 2023: One for general consulting on the Pruitt case and another for general advising on what's become the current NCAA infractions case.

UT athletics spokesman Jason Baum confirmed to Knox News that BSK was working simultaneously on an active NCAA investigation and the threat of a future probe as far back as 14 months ago.

Tennessee's reliance on NIL benefits to woo Iamaleava is a key element of the ongoing NCAA investigation, which also involves sports other than football, Knox News has learned.

But that investigation lost its teeth, at least temporarily, when a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction Feb. 23 that suspends the NCAA’s rules governing NIL.

Knox News learned that the NCAA had shown interest in allegations against UT for the past several months. But the NCAA has not given UT a notice of allegations, a necessary step if the college sports governing body seeks to punish the university for rules violations.

These newly revealed documents expand the timeline significantly.

And they shed new light on just how long ago the NCAA targeted UT for its recruitment of Iamaleava, or at least how long the university had prepared for such a fight.

How UT used its lawyers to get ahead of NCAA

UT was proactive in this current battle with the NCAA that university leaders anticipated would come after the Pruitt case was settled in July 2023. So the university worked months ahead.

From December 2022 to February 2023, UT paid almost $84,000 in legal fees for general advising from BSK attorneys on the future NIL case, documents show. During that same period, it paid $86,000 in legal fees for their work on the Pruitt case.

It was a juggling act to battle the NCAA in the present while preparing for a future fight.

In December 2022, BSK attorneys logged 88 hours over 16 days advising UT on the future NIL case while they also worked on the Pruitt case.

It may have seemed premature. But Iamaleava planned to enroll that month, and the NCAA already was sending out warning signs.

How NCAA signaled an investigation could be looming

In December 2022, there were rumblings that the NCAA planned to target schools and high-profile recruits that it felt abused its murky and everchanging NIL rules.

Iamaleava’s recruitment fit that description. He was a five-star recruit who had signed an NIL contract worth approximately $8 million with Spyre Sports, a collective that represents UT athletes, The Athletic reported,

And Spyre Sports was outspoken about its savvy tactics, aggressive approach and early success in NIL. Hunter Baddour, president and co-founder of Spyre, had boasted to The Athletic that “six-figure packages” were being organized for current and future Vols.

On Jan. 1, 2023, a new NCAA bylaw went into effect that gave its investigators the leeway to pursue allegations of NIL rule-breaking based only on circumstantial evidence such as news reports rather than on-record sources and documentation.

It would be up to the schools to prove their innocence or else face charges.

“If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” NCAA vice president of enforcement Jon Duncan told SI.com in January 2023.

“Instead of putting the burden on the enforcement staff to always come up with a smoking gun, which we don’t always have, there is a presumption. It puts the burden on the school. It’s a really powerful tool."

Lawyers in Pruitt case were working extra behind the scenes

UT’s legal preparations preceded that bylaw by at least a month.

Documents show the private attorneys hired by UT first began work Dec. 1, 2022, on the NIL case.

Iamaleava, after graduating high school early, enrolled at UT on Dec. 16. On that same day, BSK attorneys Michael Sheridan and Kyle Skillman logged 2.5 hours on the future NCAA case, which would target Iamaleava and other athletes regarding NIL, and three additional hours on the Pruitt case, documents show.

Four months later, Sheridan and Skillman represented UT in Cincinnati at the Pruitt infractions committee hearing, which yielded favorable results for the university. UT was put on a five-year probation but avoided a postseason ban, while Pruitt got a six-year show-cause penalty.

Iamaleava signed a letter of intent on Dec. 21, 2022, as Sheridan logged another 4.5 hours preparing for any future NCAA threats. And Iamaleava began practicing with the Vols ahead of the Dec. 30 Orange Bowl.

Behind the scenes, lawyers for UT continued juggling the Pruitt case and the future NIL case.

NCAA enforcement chief sent out a warning

On Jan. 11, 2023, Duncan said NCAA probes were in the works for NIL rule-breakers, especially since the new bylaw granting investigative leeway was in effect.

At the NCAA Convention in San Antonio, Duncan told a crowd of administrators from member institutions that some NIL-related inquiries were headed toward full-scale investigations, SI.com reported. But he didn’t identify the schools under the microscope.

UT’s lawyers increased their attention on the future NIL case, logging 61.5 billable hours over 18 days in January 2023, documents show. They logged another 22 days of work on the future NIL case in February 2023.

Iamaleava played four games in the 2023 regular season and then won the MVP at the Citrus Bowl, leading the Vols to a 35-0 win over Iowa on Jan. 1, 2024.

By then, the NCAA’s interest into allegations of NIL rule-breaking had become serious.

When probe came to light, UT had fortified for a year

In December 2023, UT retained Quinn Emanuel, a high-powered Washington law firm, to take on the NCAA in the NIL probe, according to a contract obtained by Knox News.

Also in December, university emails obtained by Knox News through an open records request show that UT Chancellor Donde Plowman and athletics director Danny White requested a meeting with NCAA President Charlie Baker, which he declined numerous times.

On Jan. 29, Plowman sent a scathing letter to Baker, which Knox News obtained, criticizing the NCAA’s approach and lack of cooperation with UT.

On Jan. 30, after the NCAA investigation was first reported by SI.com and acknowledged by UT, The New York Times alleged Iamaleava’s involvement. It reported that Spyre had facilitated a private jet for Iamaleava to fly to Knoxville while UT was recruiting him.

If the NCAA deemed Spyre or the person who provided the plane as a booster, that would be a violation under the old interpretation of NCAA rules.

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The NCAA’s problem with that strategy is that U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker made no distinction between NIL collectives and the boosters acting on behalf of the collective in his injunction order in federal court.

It was a sigh of relief for the Vols, as the threat of NIL-related violations appear to be off the table for the NCAA. But UT had prepared for that victory at least a year before the public learned of the threat.

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee was ready to fight NCAA for Nico Iamaleava before he enrolled