Duke freshman forward Paolo Bancherois about to make gaming history by becoming the first active college basketball player to appear in the video game series.
Banchero will be appearing in “2K22,” in “Season 5: Power Within.” The official release date for NBA 2K22 Season 5: Power Within is Friday, February 25th, 2022. The game is expected to become available at 11 a.m. Eastern.
Last September, Banchero inked a NIL (name, image and likeness) deal with 2K Sports before he’d even played his first college game. The deal came months after the Supreme Court ruled in NCAA v. Alston et al. that the NCAA violated antitrust laws by restricting athlete compensation.
However, the district court held that the NCAA may still limit cash or cash-equivalent awards for academic purposes.
In July, college athletes acquired the right from the NCAA to monetize their name, image and likeness.
Last month, the NCAA announced it would begin a review of NIL policies.
The review would examine how the deals affected athletes’ school choice, transfer opportunities, academics, and mental health. The new NIL policies led to a slew of endorsement deals for college athletes. Educational institutions had been making millions off their athletes while the athletes looked on—often straddling on the poverty line.
“We want to preserve the positive aspects of the new policy while reviewing whether anything can be done to mitigate the negative ones,” said board chair and University of Georgia President Jere Morehead, per ESPN.
“We expect that all members and their representatives are abiding by current NCAA rules regarding recruiting and pay-for-play, which are in place to support student-athletes,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said. “We encourage school compliance staff to continue their diligence, and NCAA enforcement has and will continue to undertake investigations and actions against potential rules violations.”
