Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Daniel Greene walked to Marshall Street on his first day at the Syracuse University College of Law in 2013. The recent Union College graduate had flipped his focus to SU basketball.

When he arrived on Marshall, Greene scanned the clothing racks at Shirt World and Manny’s, where he grabbed a Tyler Ennis jersey. As Greene carried it further away from the stores, he was ecstatic to be the newest owner of one of the nation’s top freshmen uniforms.

When Greene reflects on that moment, his view has shifted.

“I’m getting a Tyler Ennis jersey, but Tyler Ennis isn’t getting any money. Something seems wrong about that,” Greene, who worked as a former coordinator with the Dutchmen’s men’s hockey team, recalled thinking.

Greene decided to do something. He’d dealt with similar scenarios in Schenectady, with Union’s players’ parents often calling him to see if they could buy their sons’ jerseys. At that time, it was 2012, and the NCAA’s rules prohibited the sale of jerseys with specific players’ names.

The temporary ban on named uniforms followed mounting criticism that the NCAA and schools were profiting off players’ identities — something that violated amateurism rules, since athletes weren’t compensated.

When name, image and likeness deals emerged in 2021, Greene shifted his practice to the emerging field. Since then, he’s served as a guest lecturer at Syracuse, educating sport management students on NIL.

Hosted in Dineen Hall on Wednesday, Greene returned to the same classroom he was in 10 years ago, joined by professor of Sports Law John Wolohan and Professor in the Department of Sport Management Dave Meluni for a panel intended for aspiring sport management students, student-athletes and attorneys.

“We have the law school, we have Falk, we have Newhouse, we have Whitman, we have ACC sports,” Greene said. “I truly believe Syracuse University can be the best school for NIL students in the country.”

Syracuse was the first school in the nation with an NIL class, Meluni said, and the Syracuse Sport Group, a student-led business conference, hosted the country’s first-ever NIL summit in March.

SU Athletics has added to that. In February, Syracuse Director of Athletics John Wildhack announced a $50 million fundraising campaign before the House v. NCAA settlement. Two months later, Wildhack built off his previous statements, saying the Orange could pay their players up to roughly $20.5 million per year.

“In this new era of college athletics, it is abundantly clear that winning programs will be the ones that galvanize the support of their campuses, fan bases and communities,” Wildhack said in the February press release.

Wildhack is right, Greene said. That’s why he’s created seminars like Wednesday’s so students are ready for the changing landscape of NIL.

“Everybody needs to be educated,” Greene said. “I want to teach people and empower people to be a part of this industry and do it the right way.”

Wednesday’s event began with Greene, who’s now an adjunct professor of sport law at SUNY Cortland and one of the Top 50 leading voices in college sports, according to On3, explaining the NCAA’s focus on amateurism.

The NCAA’s 1906 bylaws state, “no student shall represent a college or university in an intercollegiate game or contest who is paid or receives, directly or indirectly, any money.” In 1984, it introduced a new concept that emphasizes its intent to “preserve the character and quality of the ‘product,’” which in turn means athletes shouldn’t be paid.

Then, Greene touched on the O’Bannon v. NCAA case. The lawsuit, which former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed on behalf of NCAA Division I football and men’s basketball players, challenged the organization’s use of images and likenesses of its former student-athletes for commercial purposes after O’Bannon saw himself in an NCAA video game.

“The business of NIL and many current businesses, whether it’s AI in tech, they’re always going to be ahead of the law and the people that make their rules,” Greene said.

Daniel Greene and Jeff Unaitis, the executive director of the Onondaga County Bar Association, discuss NIL’s relation to legal issues. Greene first thought about the idea of the panel when he bought a Tyler Ennis jersey on Marshall Street. Ben Shuffler | Contributing Photographer

The first NIL law, which was passed in California in 2019, didn’t go into effect until 2023. Over the four-year span, the NCAA faced increasing pressure, Greene said. Eventually, Florida passed a law in 2021 that allowed college athletes to profit from endorsements, sponsorships and other commercial use without losing scholarships or athletic eligibility.

As Greene continued to explore the evolving landscape of NIL, which included New York and federal laws, Federal Trade Commission requirements and NIL disputes, he began to focus on what’d happen if college athletes became employees at their schools.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” Greene said of athletes potentially being considered school employees. “It’s something that would be an even bigger change in this business if anything were to ever change.”

“Syracuse is writing a check and giving that money to (athletes). It sounds like they’re employees to me,” Wolohan added.

After Greene dissected the meaning of NIL law, explaining there’s “no such thing,” and instead, it’s different types of law where sports are involved, Meluni and Wolohan stepped in.

The 30-minute panel featuring the three speakers included Greene and voluntary attendees asking Meluni and Wolohan questions.

Meluni, who has over 20 years of experience in the sports industry that began as a Division III baseball player at Ithaca College, shared that his personal experiences engulfed him in an environment that’s as “amateurism as amateur can be.”

“There’s more opportunities to get into the industry,” Meluni said of how sports have changed since his career with the Bombers. “This is a great opportunity for our students who are looking to get out into the real world.”

Meluni mentioned how he jumpstarted the nation’s first NIL course in 2021, and has since advocated for student involvement among the Falk College of Sport, even starting the NIL Clubhouse Podcast.

Between 65 and 72% of NIL deals incorporate social media, Meluni said. As the scene continues to unfold, Meluni expects student-athletes to take initiative as they’re further educated.

“(Student-athletes) are all afraid,” Meluni said. “They’re afraid to put themselves out there.”

Wolohan, who joined Syracuse’s sport management program in 2011 and the college of law in 2014, has been teaching in the field of sport law for over 30 years. Alongside Meluni, the two answered questions about what comes next.

“Being able to look at the legal parameters, what’s happening legislatively and statewide, legally, all of those things are going to be significant in the future of NIL and college sports,” Wolohan said.

While Wednesday’s event is now complete, Greene aims to continue raising awareness about NIL in the Syracuse community. And as more events are hosted in the future, SU is well on its way to further enhancing its excellence in the NIL field.

“If (Syracuse) can get on the same page, this really can be an amazing opportunity to build on all the amazing things already happening at this school,” Greene said.

Published on October 8, 2025 at 9:35 pm
Contact: jordankimball28@gmail.com | @JordanKimball_