Purdue Boilermakers star centre Zach Edey rarely leaves points on the table, whether in the paint or at the free-throw line, but because of his Canadian nationality, he has missed out on significant NIL money.
The 7-foot-4 senior is not able to directly benefit from his name, image, or likeness in the U.S. because international students aren’t allowed to due to F-1 visa regulations. In short, international students cannot be paid to work while on a student visa.
After being named the AP National Player of the Year for a second straight season, becoming the first back-to-back winner since Ralph Sampson won three in a row from 1981-83, Edey called for a change to the rules and regulations.
“I hope they change it in the future,” Edey told NJ Advance Media on Friday. “I obviously have lost out on a lot of money this year.”
For reference, N.C. State’s D.J. Burns Jr. has earned well over $100,000 in the last three weeks since the team’s Cinderella run through the ACC and NCAA tournaments, Burns’ agent Ken Caldwell told On3.
That’s not to say international students aren’t allowed to earn any money whatsoever.
Foreign student-athletes are allowed to profit off “passive” engagements, such as jersey sales or EA Sports video game licensing in America, but these tend to be a very small percentage of NIL profits for most athletes.
With that in mind, Daps, an NIL company partnering with Edey, released 150 Edey trading cards that fans can bid on. The release is within the NIL rules because it’s considered passive income. Edey isn’t technically working. He isn’t promoting it or signing anything, he’s monetizing his NIL passively.
“When I’m back in Toronto, I’ll try to do some stuff,” Edey said. “Obviously, I can still do jersey sales and stuff while I’m here, that passive income stuff. It’s not like I can go film a commercial in West Lafayette.”
