With 0.6 seconds left in the 2016 National Championship game, a buzzer-beating three-pointer attempt left the fingertips of Villanova’s Kris Jenkins. The legendary shot won Villanova the 2016 national championship, 77-74, over the University of North Carolina.
Despite the clip of his buzzer-beater playing on various networks and social media channels, Jenkins has no profits to show for it. Since the NCAA owns the copyright to the video, it also has possession of all the revenue made off of it.
For that reason, as well as many others, Jenkins filed a lawsuit against the NCAA as well as the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC and Big East conferences on Saturday, April 5, 2025. He did it after opting out of the House v. NCAA settlement that was brought forward in order to compensate players dating back to the 2016 college athletic season.
“Myself and my team, we just had a chance to look at what the House settlement was proposing and what the NCAA was willing to do and give up,” Jenkins told The Villanovan on Monday. “We just figured that it really wasn’t in my best interest [to stay in the settlement], considering the magnitude of the shot, and how much it is rerun [on television].”
Jenkins’ professional basketball career came to an end after a hip injury in 2020. Looking back at his entire basketball career, 2016 at Villanova would by far be the most profitable year.
“The number that [the NCAA] were trying to give me over 10 years payout was just disrespectful,” Jenkins said when asked about the House settlement. “We just look forward to having our day, because we know what our value is, and we want our full fair market value. The House case is penalties and damages. That’s also what we did as well.”
Jenkins’ lawsuit is not much different from the House v. NCAA settlement, but he does not want to settle for a small chunk of money which he says was around $4,000 over ten years. He believes that the NCAA needs to give him and many other college athletes their true value when it comes to what they did during their playing days.
The settlement notably left off the Big East from receiving the large compensations given to the Power 5 schools dating back to 2016, which was Jenkins’ senior year.
Since that buzzer-beater, Villanova’s parking lot south of Lancaster Ave. was replaced with the Commons, the newest set of dorm rooms on campus. The Pavilion, which was home to some of the greatest moments of Villanova basketball for decades, was given a $60 million remodel two years after the 2016 national championship victory.
However, any player who guided Villanova to that championship received no compensation due to the NCAA’s rules on student-athletes profiting off their skills and names.
“You couldn’t do or have anything,” Jenkins said. “Anything was considered illegal. Nobody can take you to get anything or buy you anything of that nature. So it was just extremely strict and harsh, and it just didn’t make sense.”
College basketball seemingly plays a huge factor into Villanova’s success outside of athletics in admissions. After winning the national title in 2016, Villanova accepted 43% of applicants, according to acceptancerate.com. Villanova has not accepted more than 40% of applicants in a given year since. This year, Villanova admitted 27.4% of the Class of 2029 applicants.
The suit Jenkins filed mentions those Villanova admission numbers.
Jenkins believes the 2016 championship and the way it was won off “The Shot” brought a lot of revenue into the University, not just at Villanova either.
“[Student-athletes] help generate money and bring in revenue at an extremely high level and an extremely high rate, and each player should be fully compensated for that,” Jenkins said. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. You work hard, you get paid.”
However, Jenkins is firm on the stance that he will never sue the University or anyone attached to it. For him, this is an NCAA issue for how they treated student-athletes before the NIL era.
“I feel like Villanova has always been in support of [players getting compensated], like, ‘Hey, we would have always paid our players if we could have, it’s just we weren’t allowed to,’” Jenkins said. “I would never, and I didn’t, speak ill towards Villanova or sue them, or anybody tied to the school, so that’s never happened. That never will happen.”
A lot has changed in the nine years between 2016 and 2025. In today’s era of college basketball, some players make more in name, image and likeness (NIL) than the salaries of their coaching staff assistants.
While in pursuit of his compensation, Jenkins is making sure to look out for the student-athletes of today whenever he gets the opportunity.
“Whenever I get out and I get a chance to speak, or if I go to camps and things of that nature, I try to let the kids know that NIL can definitely be something that you can benefit from,” Jenkins said. “But if you don’t go out there and put the work in to do the things that you’re supposed to do, and take care of the money, then what’s the point of it? This helps set you up for your future. This isn’t the end all be all, and you should look at it that way.”
