Introducing: uNILateral Decisions

BOISE, Idaho - The conversation around college athletics is changing and some of the most informed voices in the industry are stepping forward to lead it. A new podcast, “uNILateral Decisions: Where College Athletics Meets Legal Reality,” pairs sports legal expert Sam Ehrlich with former college athletics administrators Joe Nickell and Mike Walsh to break down the legal decisions, policy shifts and market forces reshaping the industry. Each episode the hosts offer perspective at the intersection of law, leadership and opportunity.

 

Since launching last month, “uNILateral Decisions” has analyzed the major court cases that brought the industry to its current crossroads - and the impact the outcomes have had on departments and the industry as a whole - beginning with NCAA vs. Board of Regents (1984) and going all the way through the House vs. NCAA settlement (2025).

 

In advance of this weekend’s Final Four, “uNILateral Decisions” examines eligibility lawsuits directly impacting the tournament’s on-court results. The newest episode, the show’s seventh, is live, and is available on all major platforms, including Spotify, Apple and YouTube. “uNILateral Decisions” is a production of The Stable and ID43 Creative.

 

Ehrlich is one of the nation’s foremost college sports legal scholars. He is an assistant professor of legal studies at Boise State University; the publisher of collegesportslitigationtracker.com; and has been invited to speak at congressional hearings regarding the state of college athletics.

 

Nickell and Walsh, both former associate athletic directors, each spent more than 15 years working in Division I athletic departments. Together they built an institutional Name, Image and Likeness program that was named the best in the country at the 2022 NIL Awards. 

 

Later that year Walsh was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential Figures in NIL by On3. Now the Chief Operating Officer at ONIT Athlete, Walsh leads a company that worked with more than 8,500 college athletes last year.

 

The show’s host is Dominic Shelden. A multiple-time Emmy Award nominee and former Division I assistant athletic director, Shelden navigates each episode through a guided conversation about a relevant topic, culminating with the show’s namesake segment where the experts are asked to make a ‘uNILateral Decision’ on a polarizing issue facing the industry as it relates to the episode’s theme.

 

Having set the stage for how the industry arrived at its current juncture through the first five episodes, last week’s sixth episode of uNILateral Decisions evaluated the impact - or non-impact - of a potential presidential executive order, and delved into the world of eligibility lawsuits during this week’s conversation. 

 

In this week’s episode, uNILateral Decisions examines the following questions surrounding eligibility:

• How did we get from decisions about eligibility exceptions being a matter of NCAA waivers to a legal matter? 

• Are eligibility rules still defining fairness, or are they arbitrary restrictions on earning potential? 

• What is the value in setting eligibility limits in NCAA sports?

• How can eligibility limits actually be put in place? 

• Is eligibility a right that belongs to the athlete or a rule that belongs to the system?

 

The world of collegiate athletics has shifted drastically over the last several years. Whereas a decade ago a free meal could have rendered a student-athlete ineligible for competition, today schools can spend more than $20 million on rosters, paying student-athletes directly. The winding road of what amateurism looks like - how it’s defined - didn’t begin with Name, Image and Likeness. This journey began a long, long time ago, before any of today’s current student-athletes - and many administrators - were born. 

 

Welcome to “uNILateral Decisions.”

 

—uNILateral Decisions—