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UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka left the undefeated Rebels on Tuesday night over claims of unfulfilled verbal NIL promises from a UNLV assistant coach, a decision that illuminates the fragility of the current collegiate system and how talent is procured and retained.

Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie, told ESPN that UNLV didn’t come through on a verbal offer of $100,000 from an assistant coach. The quarterback’s father, Bob Sluka, told ESPN that head coach Barry Odom later said in a phone conversation that the offer wasn’t valid because it didn’t come from him, but rather from offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, who declined comment to ESPN.

UNLV said Wednesday in a statement that Sluka’s “representative made financial demands upon the University and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.”

“UNLV Athletics interpreted these demands as a violation of the NCAA pay-for-play rules, as well as Nevada state law,” the school said in its statement. “UNLV does not engage in such activity, nor does it respond to implied threats. UNLV has honored all previously agreed-upon scholarships for Matthew Sluka.

“UNLV has conducted its due diligence and will continue to operate its programs within the framework of NCAA rules and regulations, as well as Nevada state laws.”

UNLV’s collective did pay Sluka one $3,000 fee for an engagement he made this summer, according to Rob Sine, who runs Blueprint Sports, a company that manages the collective. Sine said Sluka’s agents first made contact with the collective in late August to discuss future opportunities to work together.

Sine said he wasn’t aware of any promises to pay Sluka $100,000 and that Sluka had not contacted the collective about missing payments as far as he knew.

The Friends of UNLV collective reiterated in a statement that there were “no formal NIL offers made during Mr. Sluka’s recruitment process,” and that the collective did not “agree to any NIL offers while he was part of the team, aside from a completed community engagement event over the summer.”

The decisions come at a compelling moment for UNLV, as the Rebels are 3-0 and ranked No. 23 in the AFCA Coaches Poll, marking the first time the program has been ranked in any major poll in history.

UNLV defeated Big 12 programs Houston and Kansas with Sluka at quarterback and hosts Fresno State on Saturday in its Mountain West Conference opener. The Rebels’ home game the following Friday night against Syracuse has become among the most anticipated in recent school history.

UNLV also is amid the process of deciding its conference future between the Pac-12 and Mountain West, a decision that looms large over the current structure of college athletics.

Because Marion’s offer to Sluka was verbal and never formalized, there are varying versions of what happened. Sources told ESPN that Sluka approached Odom about the money in recent days and practiced Monday with the Rebels, but then didn’t practice Tuesday. The senior transfer announced Tuesday on social media that he would not play for the Rebels again this season and that he planned to use his redshirt this year.

The only formal offer from the school, according to Cromartie, was an offer of $3,000 a month for four months. The only money Sluka has received from UNLV, per Cromartie, was $3,000 for moving expenses.

The tension point appears to center around the verbal offer. While reports emerged from UNLV about Sluka asking for more money, Sluka insists that all he was asking for is what the program verbally promised. With no contract required up front because of the vagaries of NIL rules and third parties technically in charge of giving athletes the deals, the ambiguity over the validity of verbal offers hangs over the enterprise of college athletics.

According to his father and Cromartie, at no time did Sluka ask for an adjustment to the initial deal that was promised. When Sluka reported to UNLV in the summer, he was told the money would be distributed on a payment plan. He was later told that payment would come after he enrolled in school and began classes, according to his father.

The school and collective did formally offer $3,000 per month for four months, according to Cromartie, which was $88,000 less than what Sluka and Cromartie were told verbally last winter.

The current system for paying college athletes — one in which schools can make financial offers to players during the recruiting process but can’t directly fulfill those promises — may soon be changing. As part of a pending antitrust lawsuit, the NCAA has agreed to allow its schools to pay players directly. If the settlement is approved in court, the new system has the potential to give both players and teams more security by allowing them to enter more direct contracts with one another.

After UNLV’s games began, Cromartie contacted Shannon Cottrell, the director of athlete engagements for the Friends of UNLV collective, and director of player development Hunkie Cooper.

“They keep deferring — ‘We don’t know. You have to wait,'” Bob Sluka said. “Then it was like, ‘We’re going to give him game checks.’ So we’re like, ‘OK, great.’ We did not ask for a single dollar [more]. At one point, we are out of pocket for him to be there, because his expenses to live there weren’t even being covered.”

Bob Sluka told ESPN that Marion and the agents from Equity Sports agreed to a verbal deal back in the winter, after a recruiting visit where they spent most of their time with Marion but also met with the entire coaching staff.

“We left there understanding that we were going to get a certain dollar amount for Matt to come there on the NIL deal, not a blowout number, but a reasonable, fair number,” Bob Sluka said, adding that Matthew later received more than 25 NIL offers from other schools, including Big Ten and SEC teams, that were “four, five times the amount of money we were willing to take from UNLV.”

After the money from UNLV’s verbal promise never materialized, Sluka decided to leave the team and take advantage of his redshirt opportunity.

NCAA redshirt rules allow players to retain a year of eligibility if they play four or fewer games in a season. Sluka, who played four seasons (2020-23) at FCS program Holy Cross before transferring to UNLV this past offseason, still has one more year of eligibility that he could use at another school next season.

NCAA rules do not allow players to play for two schools within the same season.

UNLV is 3-0 for the first time since 1984 and also received 53 total points in the latest Associated Press poll, just 16 points behind No. 25 Boise State. The Rebels, who upset Kansas on the road in Week 3, also began the season with a victory against Houston, making them 2-0 against Big 12 teams and raising hopes they could contend for a spot in the newly expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

Sluka has completed 21 of 48 passes for 318 yards and six touchdowns with one interception this season, his first with the Rebels. He also has rushed 39 times for 286 yards and a score.

In UNLV’s 23-20 upset victory at Kansas on Sept. 13, Sluka led the Rebels on an 18-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Kylin James scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line with 1:51 left. Sluka rushed for 113 yards in the game.

After the victory, Bob Sluka said that Cromartie spoke with Cooper in the stadium tunnel about Sluka’s deal, and Cooper said to call him the following week. On Sept. 19, Cooper and Odom called Cromartie.

Bob Sluka said the call yielded the idea that Marion didn’t have authority to make that caliber of an offer. Bob Sluka said the family never heard from UNLV’s collective and is in a state of confusion about what happened.

“We have no idea what the hell happened,” Bob Sluka said. “No one can explain this. Why would you let your starting quarterback walk out of the building? We did not ask for a penny more than what was agreed upon [this winter].”

Sluka holds school records from his seasons at Holy Cross, including first in career pass efficiency (147.4), second in career rushing yards (3,583), second in career rushing touchdowns (38), fifth in career passing yards (5,916) and fifth in career passing touchdowns (59). He rushed for an NCAA Division I quarterback record 330 yards in a loss to Lafayette in 2023.

Holy Cross reached the FCS playoffs in 2021 and 2022 with Sluka as the starter. After a coaching change at Holy Cross — head coach Bob Chesney left to take over at James Madison — Sluka also moved on.

Sluka now plans to work out with a quarterback trainer this fall and enroll at a school in January with time to learn the system, something he wasn’t able to do because he was graduating from Holy Cross last spring.

With Sluka now out of the picture, UNLV figures to turn to either senior transfer Hajj-Malik Williams or senior Cameron Friel as its starting quarterback. UNLV went 9-5 last season and played for the Mountain West championship, but the quarterback who led that team to the program’s best season in nearly 40 years, Jayden Maiava, transferred to USC.

ESPN’s Dan Murphy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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‘Reason he’s here’: Crochet delivers for Red Sox

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'Reason he's here': Crochet delivers for Red Sox

BALTIMORE — Garrett Crochet gave the Boston Red Sox an immediate return on their investment.

In his first start since agreeing to a $170 million, six-year contract, the left-hander pitched a career-best eight innings as the Red Sox shut out the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 on Wednesday night. Crochet also threw 102 pitches, one shy of his career high.

“My first start in college I went eight, and I haven’t sniffed it since,” Crochet said.

Crochet (1-0) gave up four hits and a walk while striking out eight in his first victory since the offseason trade that sent him from the Chicago White Sox to Boston.

“That’s the reason he’s here,” manager Alex Cora said after the game. “That’s the reason we committed to him.”

Crochet went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA last season, a bright spot on a Chicago team that lost 121 games. He threw 146 innings, which was double his previous career total since his debut in 2020.

Then Crochet was dealt to the Red Sox, and they made their long-term commitment to the 25-year-old earlier this week.

“Going back to when the trade went through, we knew Boston was a place where we would love to be long term,” Crochet said. “Credit to the front office for staying diligent, and my agency as well.”

Now the question is less about where he’ll pitch and more about how well. He’s off to a nice start in that regard.

“I can’t think of the last time I played baseball for pride. In college, you’re playing to get drafted, and once you’re in the big leagues, you’re playing to stay in the big leagues,” Crochet said. “So to have this security and feel like I’m playing to truly just win ballgames, it takes a lot of the riff-raff out of it.”

The news all around was good for Boston on Wednesday.

It reached a $60 million, eight-year deal with young infielder Kristian Campbell, and he went out and doubled twice against the Orioles.

And Rafael Devers ended a 21-at-bat hitless streak to start the season with an RBI double in the fifth inning. He finished with two hits and no strikeouts.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Ohtani’s walk-off pushes Dodgers to historic 8-0

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Ohtani's walk-off pushes Dodgers to historic 8-0

LOS ANGELES — Aside from his ability to pitch and hit and stretch the boundaries of imagination, Shohei Ohtani has displayed another singular trait in his time in the major leagues: an ability to meet the moment. Or, perhaps, for the moment to meet him.

And so on Wednesday night, with his Los Angeles Dodgers looking to stay unbeaten, the score tied in the bottom of the ninth, and more than 50,000 fans standing and clenching the Ohtani bobbleheads they lined up hours in advance for, Ohtani approached the batter’s box — and his teammates expected greatness.

“He’s going to end this right here,” Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy said he thought to himself.

“We knew,” starting pitcher Blake Snell said. “It’s just what he does.”

Validation came instantly. Ohtani stayed back on a first-pitch changeup from Raisel Iglesias near the outside corner and shot it toward straightaway center field, 399 feet away, for a walk-off home run, sending the Dodgers to a 6-5, come-from-behind victory over the reeling Atlanta Braves.

“I don’t think anybody didn’t expect him to hit a walk-off home run there,” Dodgers utility man Tommy Edman said. “It’s just a question of where he’d hit it.”

The Dodgers are now 8-0, topping the 1933 New York Yankees of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth for the longest winning streak to begin a season for a reigning champion. The Braves, meanwhile, are 0-7, the type of record no team has ever recovered from to make the playoffs. And Ohtani, with three home runs and a 1.126 OPS this season, just keeps meeting moments.

“He’s pretty good, huh?” Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez said. “It’s Shohei. He’s going to do that. He’s going to do things better than that.”

On Aug. 23 last year, Ohtani reached the 40/40 club with a walk-off grand slam. Five days later, the Dodgers staged a second giveaway of his bobblehead — one that saw his now-famous dog, Decoy, handle the ceremonial first pitch — and Ohtani led off with a home run. On Sept. 19, Ohtani clinched his first postseason berth and ascended into the unprecedented 50/50 club with one of the greatest single-game performances in baseball history — six hits, three homers, two steals and 10 RBIs. Barely two weeks later, he homered in his first playoff game.

When Ohtani came up on Wednesday, he had what he described as a simple approach.

“I was looking for a really good pitch to hit,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “If I didn’t get a good pitch to hit, I was willing to walk.”

Of course, though, he got a good pitch.

And, of course, he sent it out.

“You just feel that he’s going to do something special,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “And I just like the way he’s not pressing. He’s in the strike zone, and when he does that, there’s just no one better.”

The Dodgers began their much-anticipated season with a couple of breezy wins over the Chicago Cubs from Japan, even though Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman did not play in them. They returned home, brought iconic rapper Ice Cube out to present the World Series trophy on one afternoon, received their rings on another and swept a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Then came the Braves, and the Dodgers swept them, too — even though Freeman, nursing an ankle injury caused from slipping in the shower, didn’t participate.

The Dodgers already have two walk-offs and six comeback wins this season.

Wednesday’s effort left Roberts “a little dumbfounded.”

A nightmarish start defensively, highlighted by two errant throws from Muncy, spoiled Snell’s start and put them behind 5-0 after the first inning and a half. But the Dodgers kept inching closer. They trailed by just two in the eighth and put runners on second and third with two out. Muncy came to bat with his batting average at just .083. He had used the ballyhooed “Torpedo” bat for his first three plate appearances, didn’t like how it altered his swing plane, grabbed his usual bat for a showdown against Iglesias and laced a game-tying double into the right-center-field gap.

An inning later, Ohtani ended it.

“Overall, not just tonight, there is a really good vibe within the team,” Ohtani said after recording his fourth career walk-off hit. “I just think that’s allowing us to come back in these games to win.”

The Dodgers’ 8-0 start has allowed them to stay just ahead of the 7-0 San Diego Padres and the 5-1 San Francisco Giants in the National League West. Tack on the Arizona Diamondbacks (4-2) and the Colorado Rockies (1-4), and this marks the first time in the divisional era that an entire division has combined for at least 25 wins and no more than seven losses, according to ESPN Research. The Dodgers’ and Padres’ starts mark just the fifth season in major league history with multiple teams starting 7-0 or better, and the first time since 2003.

The Dodgers famously overcame a 2-1 series deficit to vanquish the Padres in the NL Division Series last year, then rode that fight to their first full-season championship since 1988.

That fight hasn’t let up.

“It feels like this clubhouse is carrying a little bit of the attitude we had last year that we’re never out of a game and we’re resilient, and we’ve been carrying it into this season,” Muncy said. “It’s been fun to watch. The guys don’t give up. Bad things have happened, and no one’s really been down or out on themselves. Everyone’s just, ‘All right, here we go, next inning, let’s get after it.’ The whole team, top to bottom, has been doing that. It’s been making it really, really fun to play.”

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Death of Gardner’s son pinned to carbon monoxide

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Death of Gardner's son pinned to carbon monoxide

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Carbon monoxide poisoning was the cause of death of the teenage son of former New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner, authorities in Costa Rica said Wednesday night.

Randall Zúñiga, director of the Judicial Investigation Agency, said 14-year-old Miller Gardner was tested for carboxyhemoglobin, a compound generated when carbon monoxide binds to hemoglobin in the blood.

When carboxyhemoglobin saturation exceeds 50%, it is considered lethal. In Gardner’s case, the test showed a saturation of 64%.

“It’s important to note that adjacent to this room is a dedicated machine room, where it’s believed there may be some type of contamination toward these rooms,” Zúñiga said.

The head of the Costa Rican judicial police added that, during the autopsy, a “layer” was detected on the boy’s organs, which forms when there is a high presence of the poisonous gas.

Gardner died March 21 while staying with his family at a hotel on the Manuel Antonio beach in Costa Rica’s Central Pacific.

Asphyxiation was initially thought to have caused his death. After an autopsy was performed by the Forensic Pathology Section, that theory was ruled out.

Another line of investigation centered around whether the family had suffered food poisoning. Family members had reported feeling ill after dining at a nearby restaurant on the night of March 20 and received treatment from the hotel doctor.

Brett Gardner, 41, was drafted by the Yankees in 2005 and spent his entire major league career with the organization. The speedy outfielder batted .256 with 139 homers, 578 RBIs, 274 steals and 73 triples in 14 seasons from 2008 to 2021.

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