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NILLY: Kendrick Perkins’ NIL Platform Faces Ethical Scrutiny

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NILLY: Kendrick Perkins’ NIL Platform Faces Ethical Scrutiny


Former NBA champion and TV commentator Kendrick Perkins has attracted attention with the launch of NILLY, a platform designed to help college athletes navigate the intricacies of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. Backed by Harlan Capital Partners, which has committed up to $200 million, NILLY aims to ease the financial strain on athletes by offering upfront payments in exchange for percentages of their NIL earnings. Yet, despite its seemingly positive and uplifting intentions, NILLY has faced scrutiny, with some questioning whether the model takes advantage of broke student-athletes needing quick cash.

Launched in February 2024, NILLY offers athletes cash advances ranging from $25,000 to several hundred thousand dollars. In return, the company secures exclusive rights to the athlete’s NIL for up to seven years, taking a portion of their future earnings, anywhere from 10% to 50%. Though this approach provides immediate financial relief, it has sparked concern among consumer protection advocates and financial advisers.

Perkins, who has an estimated net worth of $28 million, sees NILLY as a critical lifeline for athletes and their families, who often face significant financial challenges. “You have so many athletes and their parents who are struggling day-to-day,” Perkins stated. “Because we’re actually taking a bit of a gamble on what the student-athlete is going to make in the NIL space, the benefit is the kid, the student-athlete, gets financial security, so they don’t have to rush.”

However, financial experts are wary, suggesting that NILLY’s contracts may resemble high-interest loans in disguise. Michael Haddix Jr., CEO of Scout, which provides financial education to athletes, commented, “It feels predatory, and it’s capitalizing on young people who need money and haven’t thought through the long-term implications.” Likewise, Chris Peterson, a law professor at the University of Utah, bluntly labeled NILLY’s contracts as “trashy products designed to take advantage of young kids.”

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One case illustrates how much athletes might end up giving away. According to a contract obtained by ESPN, a high school senior received $50,000 upfront, agreeing to give NILLY 25% of his NIL earnings for seven years or until the company recoups $125,000, 2.5 times its original investment. Critics argue that deals like this can leave athletes with significant financial burdens long after they leave college, with some paying the equivalent of $75,000 in potential earnings just to access $50,000 upfront, a steep cost for short-term relief.

In defense, NILLY co-founder Chris Ricciardi argued that these are not loans but licensing agreements. “There’s no interest rate. There’s no requirement to pay back… it’s purely a licensing deal,” he explained, emphasizing that NIL earnings are unpredictable and that NILLY assumes considerable risk by paying athletes without guaranteed returns. However, Mike Pierce, a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau executive, advised caution, suggesting that the contracts’ fine print may reveal more. “The promise here that if you don’t make it big, you don’t have to pay anything back has a lot of fine print underneath it.”

As NILLY Continues to grow, with 20 athletes already signed on, the ethical debate around its model is gaining momentum. While Perkins and Ricciardi stand by the platform’s intent to provide immediate financial relief, critics warn that its structure could leave athletes with long-lasting financial challenges. The broader issue remains: Can NIL-focused ventures like NILLY truly empower athletes without taking advantage of them?



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Cleveland, OH

Anti-ICE demonstrators gather downtown during snow squall

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Anti-ICE demonstrators gather downtown during snow squall


CLEVELAND — A snow squall didn’t stop anti-ICE protesters from taking to the streets in Cleveland this Tuesday.


What You Need To Know

  • Anti-ICE protesters took to the streets in Cleveland despite a snow squall Tuesday evening
  • The demonstration was planned in response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis over the weekend
  • “It’s just so in your face,” Mike Bellamy, one protester, said. “It makes it hard not to come out here even in weather like this. You just have to speak out.”
  • Local faith leaders are also expressing their support for the Minneapolis community, calling on people to participate in a nationwide strike planned for Friday

“It’s just so in your face,” Mike Bellamy, one of the protest organizers, said. “It makes it hard not to come out here even in weather like this. You just have to speak out.”

Bellamy and others braved the cold to protest President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Tuesday’s demonstration was planned in response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis over the weekend, but it was just a few weeks ago that Bellamy helped plan another protest after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in her car.

“They were murdered for serving the people, and everybody here sees that,” he said. “Of course, they’re not the only ones that got murdered. There are dozens others, who have been murdered off camera, in the detention facilities while being arrested.”

Top Trump officials called Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse for a Veterans Affairs hospital, a “domestic terrorist,” saying he brandished a gun and posed a threat to federal agents, but video of the shooting does not appear to show Pretti holding a firearm. 

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Faith leaders from across Cleveland are also expressing their support for the Minneapolis community. Representatives from the Fifth Christian Church, Christ Episcopal Church, the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and more held a press conference calling on people to participate in a nationwide strike planned for Friday. They’re asking people to skip class or work and not spend any money.

“We cannot be the people who sit idly by and hope somebody else will do something someday,” Rev. Charles Graves of the Christ Episcopal Church in Shaker Heights said. “If not us, who? If not now, when? How long will you put up with the injustices of our neighbors being kidnapped in the dark of night and in broad daylight?”

President Trump is changing his immigration approach in Minneapolis, pulling Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino out of the city and replacing him with Border Czar Tom Homan, but it’s not enough for organizers, who say they won’t stop until ICE is out of their communities completely. 



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Cleveland, OH

Boys basketball postponements, cancellations for Tuesday

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Boys basketball postponements, cancellations for Tuesday


CLEVELAND, Ohio — The following boys basketball games for Tuesday evening are postponed or canceled, starting with ones involving teams in the cleveland.com Top 25:

No. 7 St. Vincent-St. Mary at Youngstown Ursuline

Avon Lake at No. 16 Berea-Midpark

No. 21 Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy at Lake Catholic

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No. 24 Solon at Twinsburg (will be played Feb. 17)

Barberton at Revere (will be played Feb. 18)

Cuyahoga Falls at Copley (will be played Feb. 19)

Field at Mogadore (will be played Feb. 16)

Kenston vs. Mayfield (will now be played Jan. 28 at Mayfield and Feb. 17 at Kenston)

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Maple Heights at North Ridgeville (will be played Feb. 18)

Norton at Orrville

Woodridge at Manchester



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Cleveland, OH

Jane Carol Maisch Probst

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Jane Carol Maisch Probst


November 8, 1934 – January 22, 2026

Jane Carol Maisch Probst, 91, formerly of Ellicottville, NY and Bay Village, OH, passed away on January 22, 2026.

Born November 8, 1934, in Cleveland, OH, she was the daughter of the late Sterling Maisch and Irene Rothermel Maisch. She married Hubert “Bert” Probst on December 1, 1962, in Cleveland, OH, who predeceased her after 54 years, in 2017. She met Bert on a blind date in 1958 and married 4 years later.

Jane earned a degree in Medical Technology from Ohio University. She worked as a medical technologist at Lakewood Hospital in Lakewood, OH, and for a brief time in Saginaw, Michigan. She was instrumental in setting up the laboratory in the Pulmonary Medical Group in Fairview Park, OH, where she retired from before moving to Ellicottville, NY with her husband.

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While raising a loving family in Bay Village, OH, winter weekends were spent traveling to and from Ellicottville, NY to ski at Holiday Valley Ski Resort, where they passed on their life-long passion to their children and grandchildren. Their ski adventures took them throughout North America and Europe. In 1985, Jane joined the Holiday Valley Ski School as a ski instructor. In 1988, Jane founded the Lounsbury Adaptive Ski Program at Holiday Valley, empowering people with disabilities to enjoy skiing using adaptive equipment. At the time, this was one of the first adaptive ski programs in the nation. Jane recruited the original staff of instructors and grew the program to what it is today. After 15 years she retired from adaptive ski instruction. Today the Lounsbury Adaptive Program provides over 200 adaptive lessons each season with over 40 qualified instructors.

After Jane and Bert moved full-time to Ellicottville, Jane spent 10 years as a volunteer at the Ellicottville Memorial Library. In 2019, Jane moved to Canterbury Woods Retirement Community in Williamsville, NY. There she volunteered for the on-site library, started a reading program for residents in assisted living and started a weekly singing club.

Jane was a longtime parishioner of St. Raphael Roman Catholic Church in Bay Village, OH, and Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Ellicottville, NY, where she was a member of the choir.

Jane is survived by her children: Joseph (Donna), Mary (William), and Timothy (Tahira), 8 loving grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

In addition to her husband, Jane was predeceased by her brother John Maisch.

Friends may call at O’Rourke & O’Rourke Funeral Home, 25 River St, Salamanca, NY on Thursday, January 29, 2026 from 5 – 8 p.m.

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A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic Church, 22 Jefferson St, Ellicottville, NY on Friday at 10:30 a.m. with Rev. Charles Johnson as celebrant.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Lounsbury Adaptive Ski Program, Holiday Valley Resort, PO BOX 370, Ellicottville, NY 14731 or www.lounsburyadaptive.org/donate or the Ellicottville Memorial Library, 6499 Maples Rd, Ellicottville, NY 14731.

E-condolences can be sent to orourke.orourkefh@gmail.com or facebook.com/onofh



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