I never said there was a cap! Maybe you need to retake a reading comprehension course! I have also pointed out all players can make their own private NIL deals outside of what they receive from a school. Pack went to Miami and received a nice NIL deal from a financial businessman. Miami didn’t give him the money, the businessman did. That same businessman made other deals. The player going to BYU made a nice private deal with NIKE. There is no ceiling as to what a player might receive on their own. There is a ceiling as to what schools and their associated booster groups can provide.
Look at Painter. He gets a salary. Where does that salary come from? You could say Purdue or you could say the JPC or some other booster groups. Does the JOC exist if Purdue didn’t exist? Sure it could, but logically it wouldn’t. In addition to his salary, there is nothing stopping Painter from making his own seperate deals. He could be like Knight and make sweater and shoe deals. He has basketball camps. He’s a part of the U.S. Olympic staff. He has other sources of money besides just his salary.
So it is with college athletes. There is a given pool of money that can be allocated anyway. The sports administrators want to allocate it. Purdue allocates a lot more of that money to its basketball team than most colleges do. That being said, players are free to make their own deals. So realistically there does exist a cap on certain funds. But that cap doesn’t prevent a player from going outside the box in an effort to make more money.
You have a job. Most jobs don’t prevent you from seeking a second job or seeking a second income. You could have a job and also own rental property. In this example, your salary is a defined cap, but it doesn’t prevent you from creating more personal revenue
