College athlete money secrecy bill to get public hearing in SC Senate

A fast-tracked bill that makes secret how much college athletes and individual athletic programs get from a $20.5 million pool of athletic revenue-sharing money at the University of South Carolina and other major public universities will get a public hearing in the SC Senate Education Committee in February.

Education Committee chair Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, told a State newspaper reporter this week that a hearing on the bill is scheduled for Feb. 11.

“We’re going to move it pretty quickly,” said Hembree. “We’ve had to make adjustments on NIL (Name Image Likeness money for athletes) repeatedly because it’s a very dynamic evolving area of law. We are bumping into different scenarios all the time and having to keep up.”

Hembree, an attorney, said, “We’ll have a discussion on it. It’s just not going to the floor. If there are any kinks to be ironed out, we’ll try to do that. I’m a great believer in the committee process. “

Persons wishing to comment on the bill should email seducomm@scsenate.gov, committee officials said. The number of the secrecy bill is H. 4902.

The bill would make secret details of how schools like USC are spending the $20.5 million. For example, the public would not be able to learn how much of the $20.5 million went to the Gamecocks football program, or how much went to the men’s basketball program as opposed to the women’s basketball program.

How much revenue sharing money individual athletes were paid from the $20.5 million would also be exempt from public disclosure under the bill, which was introduced in the House by Majority Leader Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens.

The law would also keep rev-sharing payments at Clemson a secret.

The bill passed the House on a roll call vote, 111-2, on Jan. 15. It exempts details of payments to athletes from being subject to the S.C. Freedom of Information Act. It was not sent to a committee.

Lawmakers hurried the bill’s passage in the House because State Judge Daniel R. Coble had scheduled a court hearing for Feb. 2 on a Freedom of Information lawsuit that seeks to disclose details of how the $20.5 million in revenue athletic-sharing money received by USC is being spent on NIL deals. USC opposes releasing any details of how $20.5 million is being spent on its college athletes and athletic programs.

But on Jan. 14., Hiott filed his bill to keep secret details of the $20.5 million. The bill passed the House the next day, on Jan. 15. The same day, Jan. 15, USC requested Coble to delay the Feb. 2 hearing because of Hiott’s bill and because athletic executives would be out of town Feb. 2.

On Jan. 16, Coble agreed to delay the bill, saying, “When, and if, the General Assembly speaks, this Court must listen. This Court will not rush into a decision which could have impacts statewide and nationwide.”

The lawsuit had been brought by open records activist Frank Heindel.

Heindel said Thursday he hopes to attend the Feb. 11 hearing.

Hembree’s Education Committee has a number of influential veteran senators on it from both parties, including Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee; Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg; Shane Massey, R-Edgefield; Luke Rankin, R-Horry; Darrell Jackson, D-Richland; and Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley.

This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 12:03 PM with the headline "College athlete money secrecy bill to get public hearing in SC Senate."