An End of an Era For College Football

PLUS 4 Schools In 4 Years, Gators Land Princeton Star From Portal, Gio Lopez Lands $4M Deal with UNC

April 18, 2025

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Welcome to Office Chair Sports! Your home for everything Sports & Biz! Today, we’re covering top news about:

  • An End of an Era For College Football

  • 4 Schools In 4 Years

  • Gators Land Princeton Star From Portal

  • Duke, UK & UNC Are Big NIL Spenders

  • Gio Lopez Lands $4M Deal with UNC

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An End of an Era For College Football

Man, college football is losing the OG.

Lee Corso's hanging it up after week one of the 2025 season, and the timing couldn't be more symbolic. The OG of "College GameDay" is peace-ing out just as the sport goes full-blown capitalism.

Remember when a scholarship was considered "payment enough"? Now we've got QBs holding teams hostage before the transfer portal opens and schools dropping millions into salary pools. Ohio State literally bought their championship last year with four key free agents!

The game's morphing from "The Team, The Team, The Team" into "the teams, the contracts, the leverage." And as Corso exits, we're swapping his lovable grandfather vibe for the charismatic and entertaining Pat McAfee.

Forever a legend and will be missed.

4 Schools In 4 Years

Memphis just lost a big one!

All-American guard PJ Haggerty is bouncing to the transfer portal, making this his FOURTH school in four years. Talk about college hoops nomad.

The dude was a straight beast this season – led the AAC with 21.7 points per game while grabbing nearly 6 boards and dishing almost 4 assists. No wonder he snagged Conference Player of the Year.

His journey's been wild – barely played at TCU, exploded at Tulsa, then dominated at Memphis. Classic portal era stuff.

Meanwhile, there was a whole drama with Memphis big man Dain Dainja. His agents told ESPN he was transferring too, but Dainja shut that down on social media. He's waiting on an NCAA waiver for another season.

At least the Tigers picked up South Carolina transfer Zachary Davis to help fill the Haggerty-sized hole. Portal giveth, portal taketh away!

Gators Land Princeton Star From Portal

Florida just reloaded for their title defense! The national champs snagged Princeton guard Xaivian Lee from the transfer portal, beating out Kansas and St. John's for the Canadian baller.

This dude was straight-up dominant in the Ivy League - dropped nearly 17 points a game while grabbing 6 boards and dishing 5.5 assists. The Toronto native even set Princeton's single-season assist record with 165 dimes and made history as the program's first player to record a triple-double.

Perfect timing for the Gators who just lost their entire championship backcourt. All-American Walter Clayton Jr. and fellow guards Alijah Martin and Will Richard are all headed to pro ball.

Lee announced his commitment with some slick Photoshop work - rocking Gators gear superimposed over a swamp with the championship trophy. One year of eligibility left for the guy who'll try to help Florida go back-to-back.

Duke, UK & UNC Are Big NIL Spenders

Holy money bags! The college basketball arms race is officially out of control.

The usual blue bloods are there - Duke, Kentucky, and UNC - plus some surprise big spenders like BYU, Arkansas, Louisville, Indiana, Michigan, St. John's and Texas Tech.

Duke's trying to remain elite even with Cooper Flagg likely heading to the NBA (dude's NIL value alone is $4.8M). Kentucky's throwing around cash in Mark Pope's second year to improve on that mediocre 24-12 debut. And UNC? They're desperately trying to avoid another first-round March Madness embarrassment.

The wildest part? BYU landed #1 recruit AJ Dybantsa with an NIL package worth nearly $7M! College hoops has officially entered its pay-to-win era.

Gio Lopez Lands $4M Deal with UNC

South Alabama QB Gio Lopez just committed to North Carolina with a massive two-year, $4 million deal. The dual-threat quarterback immediately becomes the frontrunner in Bill Belichick's first year coaching the Tar Heels.

Lopez was ESPN's #6 spring transfer after tearing it up as a redshirt freshman last season - completed 66% of his passes for 2,559 yards and 18 TDs, plus added 465 rushing yards and 7 scores. Dude ranked 26th nationally with 8.2 yards per attempt.

This closes UNC's QB search that's been ongoing since Belichick took over in December. Georgia and LSU were also after Lopez, but UNC's general manager Michael Lombardi sealed the deal. He'll battle returning QB Max Johnson, who's coming back from a season-ending leg injury.

Gotta love college football in 2025 - NFL coach, NFL-style GM, and NFL-style contracts all in Chapel Hill!

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