When the NCAA finally opened the door to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compensation in 2021, it didn’t just change college sports — it commercialized amateurism. Almost overnight, elite high school prospects and top collegiate athletes began signing endorsement deals, creating personal brands, and making serious money. But with this new gold rush came a new problem: market distortion fueled by unverifiable NIL valuations. Today, the NIL landscape is more Wall Street than weight room. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the highly visible — and increasingly controversial — case of Nico Iamaleava, the former five-star quarterback at Tennessee whose NIL deal reportedly exceeded $8 million. Now transferring to UCLA, Iamaleava has become the poster child of a growing concern: what happens when fictional figures drive real decisions?