Palm Beach State NIL Deals: The Panthers’ Historic NIL Reality

Palm Beach State College is a public community college based in Lake Worth, Florida, fielding NJCAA Division II athletics as the Panthers in Region 8. PBSC isn’t a Power 4 program, and most national NIL conversation focuses on schools that aren’t community colleges. But 2025-26 was a historic year for Panther athletics — with both a men’s basketball season that ended a 47-year championship drought and a beach volleyball program that won its fourth straight NJCAA national championship. That’s the level of sustained excellence that creates real NIL opportunities for the athletes who built it.

This is what PBSC NIL actually looks like, who the program is now, and how the NJCAA framework works for Panthers athletes.

The 2025-26 stories that change the NIL conversation

Men’s basketball: 33-3 and the first FCSAA title since 1978

The Palm Beach State men’s basketball program completed one of the most successful seasons in school history in 2025-26. The Panthers finished 33-3 overall with a perfect 9-0 conference record, captured No. 1 in the NJCAA Division II national rankings in December 2025, and won the FCSAA Division II Men’s Basketball Championship — the school’s first state title in basketball since 1978, when the program then competed as Palm Beach Junior College. PBSC also dominated home court, going 14-0 at the Erling Gymnasium.

In the FCSAA championship game on February 28, 2026, the Panthers defeated Pasco-Hernando State 81-55, never trailing and racing to a 10-2 lead inside the first seven minutes. Carter Mungin led PBSC with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting; Sam Wolff added 12; Robert Chandler and Jovan Polavra had 11 each. Polavra was named Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Mungin, Polavra, and sophomore guard Marvin Golf earned All-Tournament Team honors.

The Panthers then won their first-ever NJCAA Gulf South District Championship, defeating Coastal Alabama-North 64-59. As the No. 2 seed in the NJCAA Tournament, they finished Top 8 in the country at the single-elimination event hosted by Danville Area Community College in Danville, Illinois.

Head coach Tae Norwood was named both the FCSAA Division II Coach of the Year and the NJCAA Gulf South District Coach of the Year. Norwood was born just months after the program’s last FCSAA championship in March 1978. After the championship win, Marvin Golf summarized the team’s approach: “We’re not trying to be perfect. We’re trying to be connected. When we’re locked in with each other, it feels like the court opens up.”

Beach volleyball: four straight national championships

While men’s basketball was making program history, the PBSC beach volleyball program quietly continued one of the most dominant dynasties in NJCAA sports. On May 9-10, 2026, the Panthers defeated Lake-Sumter State 3-1 in the NJCAA national championship final in Huntsville, Alabama — claiming their fourth consecutive NJCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026).

PBSC has won all four FCSAA Beach Volleyball Championships (2023-2026) and is 40-1 against FCSAA opponents since 2023. Sisters Camila and Larissa Villegas clinched the FCSAA title with a 2-0 sweep at pair four. Head coach Drew Colvin, in his 10th season leading the program, was named FCSAA Coach of the Year. The Panther beach volleyball program was also named NJCAA Academic Team of the Year in 2022-23, the year it won the inaugural NJCAA national championship — that title was the first time any PBSC sports team had won a national championship since 1996.

That’s the NIL context that matters: when athletes are competing at a level that produces national championships and four-year-program scholarships, their personal brand value is meaningfully different from what national headlines about JUCO NIL usually suggest.

Panthers fans wanting to follow specific athletes’ careers can browse athlete pages on RallyFuel to track players as they move through the JUCO-to-D-I pipeline.

How NJCAA NIL actually works

NJCAA NIL is governed by NJCAA Bylaw D.3, codified at the association level. The rule is meaningfully different from how NCAA NIL operates, and PBSC athletes need to understand the specifics:

• A member institution may allow a student-athlete to receive NIL compensation, provided the activity complies with local, state, and federal law.
• There must be an exchange of goods or services — quid pro quo. Compensation must reflect actual work performed (a social media post, an appearance, a product review).
• Student-athletes are permitted to retain professional service providers for NIL purposes only — not for negotiating professional sports contracts.
• Representatives of a member college cannot directly pay student-athletes.
• NIL compensation cannot be contingent on enrollment at a member college (no recruiting inducements).
• NIL compensation cannot be based on athletic performance (no pay-for-play).

The NJCAA framework is structurally similar to the NCAA’s approach, but with one practical difference: NJCAA programs typically don’t have the donor-funded collectives that drive Power 4 NIL spending. JUCO NIL is more often individual brand-to-athlete deals — restaurants, local retailers, automotive dealerships, healthcare practices — rather than centralized booster funds.

Florida NIL law

Because NJCAA Bylaw D.3 defers to state law, Florida’s Intercollegiate Athletes Compensation and Rights statute applies. Florida was one of the first states to pass an NIL law — signed in June 2020, effective July 1, 2021 — and it provides legal protection for Panthers athletes engaging in NIL activities.

Key Florida provisions affecting PBSC athletes:

• Student-athletes have the right to earn compensation from third parties for their NIL.
• Institutions cannot pay athletes directly for athletic performance.
• NIL agreements cannot conflict with team contracts (e.g., shoe or apparel deals).
• NIL compensation cannot be used as a recruiting inducement.
• Florida law affirms that NIL earnings do not affect athletic scholarship eligibility, provided agreements come from legitimate third-party sources.

The PBSC athletic department’s role under this framework is educational and administrative — providing financial literacy resources and reviewing disclosed agreements for compliance with NJCAA and Florida law. The department doesn’t broker NIL deals or operate as an employer.

Florida also has no state income tax, which is a practical benefit for PBSC athletes earning NIL income. For South Florida athletes managing the area’s high cost of living, every dollar that doesn’t go to state income tax is meaningful.

The full athletic program

The Panthers field competitive teams across multiple sports under Athletics Director John Scarpino, who has been with the department since PBSC’s transition from NJCAA Division I to Division II. Scarpino brings more than 15 years of athletic director experience and 32 years in student services administration.

Current PBSC programs:

• Men’s Basketball — 2025-26 FCSAA Champions, NJCAA Top 8 finishers under head coach Tae Norwood
• Women’s Basketball — head coach Maureen Smith (entering her sixth season); 2024-25 NJCAA Region 8 Champions. The 2025-26 squad placed three players on the All-FCSAA team, with Suprius named FCSAA Division II Player of the Year and a multi-time NJCAA Player of the Week. Thornton earned a third Team All-American honor and the Sandy Miller Award.
• Women’s Beach Volleyball — four-time defending NJCAA national champions under head coach Drew Colvin; based at PBSC and competing in tournaments across Florida
• Women’s Volleyball — historic program that produced Duke commit Haley Seyfarth, PBSC’s first NJCAA Division I Volleyball First Team All-American
• Baseball — competes in NJCAA Region 8; the 2025-26 squad reached the FCSAA Division II Baseball Championship. Sophomore Ryan Senegal was named NJCAA DII Baseball Player of the Week in March 2026. The PBSC baseball program previously finished as runners-up at the 2013 NJCAA Division I Baseball World Series.
• Women’s Soccer — added in 2021 as the program restructured its athletic portfolio

In 2023-24, the PBSC athletic department finished with a cumulative 3.30 GPA across all teams, with beach volleyball earning the NJCAA Academic Team of the Year distinction alongside its national championship.

The Lake Worth main campus is at 4200 Congress Avenue, Lake Worth, FL 33461. Home basketball games are played at the Elisabeth W. Erling Gymnasium on the Lake Worth campus. PBSC is the first public junior college in Florida, founded in 1933, and now operates campuses across Palm Beach County including Lake Worth (main, since 1956), Belle Glade (1978), Palm Beach Gardens (1982), Boca Raton (1983), and Loxahatchee Groves (2017). The current PBSC President is Ava L. Parker, J.D. Official athletic site: pbscpanthers.com. Social: @pbscpanthers (Instagram), @PBSCPanthers (X).

Pedigree: PBSC’s notable alumni

Few NJCAA programs can match the depth of PBSC’s celebrated alumni roster across sports and entertainment:

• Burt Reynolds — Hollywood star whose career began with mentorship from PBSC English professor Watson B. Duncan III
• Judge Reinhold — actor (Beverly Hills Cop, Fast Times at Ridgemont High)
• Deidre Hall — actress (Days of Our Lives)
• Yolanda Griffith — Olympic gold medalist and WNBA Hall of Famer
• Crystl Bustos — two-time Olympic gold medalist in softball (2004, 2008)
• Jesper Parnevik — PGA Tour veteran
• Ken Green — five-time PGA Tour winner
• Dante Bichette — MLB All-Star outfielder
• Brad Peacock — MLB pitcher (Houston Astros 2017 World Series champion)
• Robby Thompson — two-time MLB All-Star second baseman
• Sammis Reyes — NFL tight end (Washington Commanders)
• Antoan Richardson — MLB outfielder and current coach
• Mark Foley — former U.S. Representative
• Jeff Wilpon — former Chief Operating Officer of the New York Mets

The athletic pedigree extends across multiple championship-level professional careers — context that strengthens both recruiting and the credibility of PBSC’s current NIL ecosystem.

What JUCO NIL realistically looks like financially

The dollar figures at the JUCO level differ sharply from what fans of Power 4 programs see — and they differ even from NCAA mid-major levels. NJCAA NIL is dominantly local, with most deals running through Palm Beach County businesses.

What typical PBSC NIL deals look like in practice:

• Local sponsorships from Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach County businesses — restaurants, automotive dealerships, fitness studios, healthcare practices, surf and beach shops
• Social media partnerships — sponsored posts, account takeovers, product reviews for area businesses
• Appearance deals — autograph sessions, store appearances, youth camp instruction
• Gear-for-content trades — equipment, apparel, or services in exchange for honest product reviews
• Custom discount codes — local retailers using athlete-tied promo codes to track conversion

Total earnings vary widely by athlete. A 33-3 men’s basketball starter or a beach volleyball player on a four-peat national championship roster earns meaningfully more than a deep-bench contributor — that’s true everywhere. At the NJCAA level, most athletes earn in the low four figures annually, with marquee performers (national-championship contributors, top transfer prospects) potentially earning more through accumulated local deals.

Important context: NIL deals promote the athlete and the partner business — not the college. PBSC logos, uniforms, and trademarks cannot appear in NIL marketing without a separate licensing agreement from the school. Campaigns that succeed do so by featuring the athlete in non-branded apparel or neutral settings.

Tax basics

NIL income is independent contractor income. PBSC athletes receiving NIL compensation receive 1099-NEC forms at year-end, not W-2s, and are responsible for self-employment tax in addition to federal income tax.

Standard practice: set aside 20-30% of every NIL payment for tax obligations as soon as the money arrives, before it gets spent. Track every agreement and every payment with written records. Consider working with a tax preparer experienced with 1099 income before the first tax season as an athlete. NIL earnings can also affect federal need-based aid like Pell Grants if total income exceeds specific thresholds, so monitoring overall income against aid limits matters.

How fans plug in

Three practical paths for supporting PBSC athletes:

1. Attend home events. The Panthers play home basketball games at the Elisabeth W. Erling Gymnasium on the Lake Worth campus, and admission to most regular-season athletic events is accessible. With the program coming off a 33-3 men’s basketball season (including a 14-0 home record) and a four-peat beach volleyball championship, attendance is a meaningful show of support.
2. Follow @pbscpanthers and individual athletes on social media. Engagement — likes, comments, shares — directly affects an athlete’s negotiating leverage with local sponsors. Athletes whose accounts have demonstrably engaged Palm Beach County followers have measurably more value to area businesses.
3. Back Panthers directly through RallyFuel’s Palm Beach State page. RallyFuel is a fan-powered NIL platform where supporters can contribute toward specific athletes’ NIL deals. The mechanic is straightforward: fans pledge support to an athlete, and the funds convert to an NIL agreement only if the athlete stays enrolled at PBSC through a designated period. If the athlete transfers to a four-year school — which is the typical JUCO path — funds auto-refund to the original contributor. This is particularly useful for PBSC supporters because it matches the realistic mobility pattern of community-college athletes: fans can back players they want to see develop at PBSC without risking money on athletes who move on. The platform is built for NCAA and NJCAA compliance, and contributions can be made in any amount, allowing alumni and Palm Beach County fans to participate at whatever scale fits their budget.

Q&A

Is PBSC NCAA or NJCAA? NJCAA Division II — Region 8. The school competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association, which has its own NIL framework (Bylaw D.3) separate from NCAA NIL rules. PBSC also competes within the FCSAA (Florida College System Activities Association).

Who runs PBSC athletics? John Scarpino serves as Athletics Director, having joined the department during its transition from NJCAA Division I to Division II. The current PBSC President is Ava L. Parker, J.D.

Was PBSC really the first junior college in Florida? Yes. Founded in 1933 as Palm Beach Junior College, PBSC is the first public junior college in the state. The Old Palm Beach Junior College Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Burt Reynolds went to PBSC? Yes. The Hollywood star attended what was then Palm Beach Junior College, where he was mentored by legendary English and speech professor Watson B. Duncan III. The campus theater is named for Duncan, who taught at PBSC from 1948 to 1991. PBSC’s other Hollywood alumni include Judge Reinhold (Beverly Hills Cop) and Deidre Hall (Days of Our Lives).

Who are PBSC’s most notable sports alumni? Olympic gold medalists Yolanda Griffith (basketball) and Crystl Bustos (softball, two-time Olympic champion); PGA Tour pros Jesper Parnevik and Ken Green; MLB All-Stars Dante Bichette and Robby Thompson; 2017 World Series champion Brad Peacock; and current NFL tight end Sammis Reyes.

Who’s the men’s basketball head coach? Tae Norwood, named both FCSAA Division II Coach of the Year and NJCAA Gulf South District Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to a 33-3 record (9-0 in conference) in 2025-26.

How dominant has PBSC beach volleyball been? Across four NJCAA championship seasons (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026), the program has gone 40-1 against FCSAA opponents and won all four NJCAA national titles under head coach Drew Colvin. The team won the inaugural NJCAA Beach Volleyball National Championship in 2023 — which was the first national title for any PBSC athletic program since 1996.

Where does PBSC play? The main athletic campus is the Lake Worth campus at 4200 Congress Avenue. Beach volleyball plays in tournaments across Florida and at the NJCAA championship venues in Huntsville and other tournament sites.

Did PBSC really win an FCSAA championship for the first time since 1978? Yes. The 2025-26 men’s basketball FCSAA Division II Championship — won 81-55 over Pasco-Hernando State on February 28, 2026 — was PBSC’s first state title in basketball since 1978, when the program competed as Palm Beach Junior College.

Who is Haley Seyfarth? A former PBSC volleyball setter and Duke University commit. She was PBSC’s first volleyball player to be named NJCAA Division I First Team All-American — a recent example of a Panther athlete who used the JUCO pathway to land at a Power 4 program.

What categories are off-limits for NJCAA NIL deals? Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and sports wagering, controlled substances, and adult entertainment are prohibited across virtually all NJCAA programs. Member institution policies may add additional category restrictions.

Can PBSC athletes earn NIL money while keeping their financial aid? Generally yes, but NIL income counts toward federal financial aid calculations. Athletes receiving significant NIL income may see Pell Grant or other need-based aid adjusted in subsequent years. Tracking total income against federal aid thresholds matters.

What’s a realistic NIL number for a PBSC athlete? Most NJCAA athletes earn in the low four figures annually through local deals. Marquee performers — national-championship contributors, top transfer prospects, players with significant social followings — can earn more through accumulated partnerships. Power 4 or even NCAA mid-major D-I numbers don’t apply at the JUCO level.