Since taking over as LSU’s athletics director in November 2025, Verge Ausberry has become a key voice as the school navigates the ever-changing college sports landscape. But he also made clear his desire for clarity with regard to rules and structure.
Throughout the NIL era, there have been comparisons between the college game and the pros. Not only can athletes earn money through their name, image and likeness, but the transfer portal has created a sense of “free agency” and player movement.
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To Ausberry, though, there are differences because of how staffs are built. But as college athletics navigates so many changes, he stressed the need for clarity. In the meantime, he said LSU will continue to work within the parameters in place, using Will Wade’s roster construction as an example.
“College athletics is in a different realm,” Ausberry said on In The Bayou with Tyrann Mathieu. “Professionals are set up for it. You have the analytics, you have the analysts, you have all those people. That’s all they do. Player personnel, they’re watching guys in college, they’re watching guys on other teams. They do that every day. That’s all new to us here in this system we’re in. And then, we’re just trying to figure out from the NCAA, what’s the rules? We’ll live by the rules. Right now, there’s really no rules and we don’t know them. So that’s the hard part for us, trying to figure out what we do and how we remain competitive.
“Some people complain about Will Wade and the basketball players he signed. Well, if the rule is there and there’s no rules against it, yeah, go for it. And we’re gonna live within the rules there [are]. But I want to win, LSU wants to win and we’re gonna be competitive here. I’m not going to give my team a competitive disadvantage to other people in the country.”
Verge Ausberry: ‘A lot of chatter’ about NCAA’s future
When it comes to the future of the NCAA and college sports as a whole, Verge Ausberry pointed to multiple factors. The association continues to face legal challenges to its rules, particularly around eligibility. The Division I Cabinet approved an overhaul of the eligibility rules with an age-based model set to take effect.
There’s also the Protect College Sports Act, which is on track for the Senate floor after a markup and committee vote. With so much happening behind the scenes, Ausberry stressed the importance of talking with coaches about what the future could hold.
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“There’s a lot of chatter and a lot of discussions going on about how we’re going to look by next year, the next two years, three years, how whole operation is going to look,” Ausberry said. “Nobody’s come up with the right answer yet. There’s a lot of legal challenges right now. There are in the court system, and the court system is driving this right now. That’s why we do need some help from Congress to help us get us in a better position. So, right now, we all are trying to figure that out, what it’s going to look like. We know one thing, it’s not sustainable where we are today. We do know that. But what this thing is going to look like in the future, and I think everybody is working together, trying to figure that out.
“I have a good president, President [Wade] Rousse, who’s working with me on that, how we think it should look and what it should look like. But also, I want to get input from the coaches, what they think it should look like. People talk about many things – collective bargaining, antitrust, … private equity, restructuring of finances. All the conversations we’re having now. And everything is on the table. We’re just trying to put it together, how this thing is going to look in the future and what it’s going to look like.”
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