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Dan Murphy
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Michael Rothstein
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Michael Rothstein
ESPN Staff Writer
- Previously covered University of Michigan for ESPN.com and AnnArbor.com
- Also covered Notre Dame for Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
UConn‘s Adama Sanogo and Miami‘s Norchad Omier will meet on the court Saturday night, both of them key players who have helped clear their teams’ path to the Final Four in Houston. But despite their growing popularity, both big men are part of a group of college athletes who face complicated obstacles making it harder for them to cash in on their starring roles on one of the biggest, most lucrative stages in college sports.
Sanogo is from Mali; Omier from Nicaragua. They are in the U.S. on F-1 student visas, the rules of which strictly limit their ability to earn money through name, image and likeness endorsement deals while in America.
“I was excited about it. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to have a chance to do it,'” Omier told ESPN. “Then I found out that international students can’t do it in the U.S. I mean, I’m in the U.S. most of the year. … I was kind of disappointed, but you just got to keep going.”
Seven of the eight teams playing in the men’s and women’s Final…
