Like it or not, the transfer portal has transformed college sports. Student-athletes across the country now have the ability to chart their own course — deciding when it's time to leave one school for another. In many ways, they've become free agents, as colleges and coaches fight for survival in an environment where players hold unprecedented power and NIL money is firmly on the table.

Ayaz Hafeez and Scotty Collinson of Student Athlete Pathways — a recruitment and advisory firm representing student-athletes, primarily college soccer players — are key players in this evolving space. They provide guidance on navigating the transfer portal, NIL opportunities, player branding, recruiting strategy, and access to a network of NCAA professionals, licensed agents, and former athletes.

In this episode, we dive into the realities of modern college athletics — a rapidly changing landscape where loyalty, leverage, opportunity, and business now collide in ways the NCAA was never initially built to handle.

Pull up a chair and take notes — Emmy-winning director Kenan Kamwana Holley is in the building to discuss his latest masterpiece, Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association, a four-part docuseries that chronicles the ABA's nine-year run and its lasting influence on the modern game.

You know Holley from Wendell Scott: A Race Story and from ESPN Films' acclaimed slate, including I Hate Christian Laettner, The Book of Manning, Nature Boy, Dominique Belongs to Us, 40 Minutes of Hell, and Redemption Song, the powerful story of Howard University's little-known, underappreciated soccer dominance in the 1970s.

Soul Power premiered Feb. 12 and is now streaming on Prime Video.

Press Pause welcomes Dr. Alison Thompson, founder and CEO of Third Wave Volunteers, a global humanitarian leader with decades of front‑line disaster response experience. Driven by her nine months volunteering at Ground Zero after 9/11, Dr. Thompson built Third Wave Volunteers into a network of more than 30,000 first responders delivering aid in crises from Syria and Ukraine to Afghanistan, and beyond.

After Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica last October, Third Wave's rapid response team worked directly with families and communities cut off after the Category 5 storm to deliver food, solar lights, clean water solutions, communication systems, medical support, and other essential supplies.

A recipient of the 2026 New South Wales Australian of the Year award for her humanitarian work, Dr. Thompson shares her perspective on the long road ahead toward recovery for Jamaica.