THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: How the House settlement could benefit the Zags

Perhaps you’ve been following every hour of negotiations. 

You know, in the search for a settlement in the House vs. NCAA case regarding direct payment to college athletes. 

Or. 

Just as likely, you’ve dozed through it all — deciding to wait and see how the movie ends. 

Fair enough. 

Let me give you the short version of the settlement handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken. 

Schools are now permitted to pay athletes to the tune of $20.5 million in the 2025-26 athletic year. 

Two things to note: Universities do not have to reach the limit (though all elite programs surely will), and those private, off-campus collectives that bring cash sloshing around are sticking around. 

The only difference now is that those schools in the SEC, Big Ten and their cousins can budget up to $20.5 million on offensive linemen without any fuss from the NCAA. 

Oh, and one other thing. 

A program like Gonzaga could benefit hugely from this settlement. 

But that assumes an interesting decision. 

WILL THE GU administration take money ticketed for other needs and feed it instead to the basketball programs? 

Gonzaga has become nationally known because of its bet on hoops more than two decades ago. 

Mike Roth, the longtime athletic director, carried out a mandate that came directly from the president’s office. 

“We’re slowing sinking financially here, so let’s gamble on men’s basketball.” 

Roth and coach Mark Few took it from there. 

The McCarthey Athletic Center was built, practice facilities and weight rooms became first-class, the Zags started traveling on charter flights (though Roth says a donor arranged that), and soon enough, Gonzaga was a hoops powerhouse. 

So, will the school want to take it up a notch? 

Maybe battle for the Final Four almost every year?

Judge Wilken’s settlement makes that possible, at least concerning the Zags’ duels with major conference opponents. 

The ones that play football. 

Columnist Jon Wilner, who has covered sports on this side of the Rockies for years, suspects Few’s eyes lit up when the settlement became official. 

Here is Wilner’s take on the Zags’ good fortune: 

“Each athletic department will determine how to allocate the money, but the generally accepted breakdown in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC will result in about $15 million devoted to football rosters, roughly $3 million to men’s basketball and the rest to Olympic sports. 

“Schools with rich basketball traditions (UCLA, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and Duke) could exceed the average within the Power Four and share $4 million to $5 million with their basketball players, giving them an edge relative to intraconference peers that prioritize football. 

“Schools without football don’t have to feed the beast.  

“Gonzaga could plow as much as it wants into men’s basketball ($5 million, $7 million, whatever), as long as it doesn’t exceed the cap and makes the requisite commitment to Olympic sports.” 

AS WE noted, however, Wilner’s view of the Zags’ new fiscal advantage (also handed to the Big East schools) only matters if the administration decides to double down on hoops. 

There’s no doubt basketball has been a godsend to this small Jesuit university in Spokane. 

Applications are up, year after year. 

Boosters are thrilled to put cash into the program, and add other donations. 

The Zags have long since risen out of the mid-major category, and all those TV games and NCAA tournament thrills mean revenue. 

Ironically (or maybe not), Few has a richly talented team to unleash this fall. 

All the major hoops experts have put Gonzaga in the preseason top 20, and a couple of late transfer additions suggest the Zags could jump to the top 10. 

Few is trying to stay under the radar, but the Zags look loaded. 

The coach has been anticipating this new collegiate landscape for a while, so Gonzaga has been preparing for several years. 

Moving to the new Pac-12 only underscores the point. 

There will be one or more additions to the conference for 2026-27, but at the moment, Gonzaga is the only one without football. 

That’s now available money, free to spend. 

Money means talent, whether we like it or not. 

It’s the yellow brick road of collegiate sports. 

And if the Zags are in it, why not win it? 

Email: scameron@cdapress.com 

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press three times each week, normally Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday unless, you know, stuff happens. 

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”