So, what’d ya get?

Revenue sharing payments started flowing into UCLA football players’ PayPal accounts this week, leading to the inevitable sidling up to teammates for quiet comparisons … or not.

“We try not to,” linebacker Isaiah Chisom said when asked if players discussed how much money they’re making. “Obviously, I mean, people know how much some people are getting, but, you know, at the end of the day, we all came here for one reason, and that’s to play football and the extra money or whatever we get is just extra, it’s not making anybody play harder.”

While UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond would not divulge the specifics of his school’s revenue-sharing plan, it’s believed that the football team was allotted roughly 75% of the $20.5 million in payments — or about $15.375 million — which is in line with the suggested formula as part of the House settlement with the NCAA. That would break down to $146,428 per player if divided evenly among the 105 players on the roster, though coach DeShaun Foster said his staff divvied up the money based on talent evaluations.

Does that mean new quarterback Nico Iamaleava, the highly coveted transfer from Tennessee, is the team’s highest-paid player? Nobody will know unless Iamaleava wants them to.

“We haven’t put anything out publicly like that for the other players to see,” Foster said of divulging payment amounts. “So if they wanted to share that, they can.”

The lack of transparency about revenue sharing across the country will lead to guesswork and assumptions about who’s making what. Chisom acknowledged the importance of ensuring that the presumed revenue sharing discrepancies didn’t disrupt team chemistry.

“It definitely can expose a team or bring up a team,” Chisom said. “It really just depends on the people you have on the roster. But I think the coaches did a great job of bringing in the right type of character and people who want to play football and are excited to play in California in the Rose Bowl.”

Foster said players were taught about financial literacy to give them information about the importance of saving money and the tax implications of their new windfall.

But the quaint notion that revenue sharing would level the playing field for UCLA with teams whose name, image and likeness collectives were generating several multiples of what the Bruins were before the House settlement has long been discarded.

“They’re just going to find ways to do it under the table,” Foster said of the powerhouse programs sustaining their financial edge. “It is what it is. We’re just going to control what we can control. We have our salary cap. We’re gonna do the best that we can do with that, and allocate it to our players the way that we want to, and you know, whatever everybody else does, that’s what they do. They’re just gonna find other ways to do what they’ve been doing.”

A cloak-and-dagger camp

First impressions of UCLA’s football training camp?

Iamaleava looked good getting off the bus in a light blue hoodie, black sweatpants and a black do-rag.

The offense’s black uniforms with blue numbers looked spiffy.

The weather in Costa Mesa has been close to perfect.

Oh, you wanted some insight into how the Bruins look on the field? That’s been much harder to gauge.

Daily media viewing sessions have been limited to 25 minutes of mostly stretching, individual drills and special teams work, leaving almost everything else to the imagination.

One early takeaway has been that defensive linemen Keanu Williams and Gary Smith III look fully recovered from their respective injuries. Williams made one quick burst that appeared to please defensive line coach Jethro Franklin, who unleashed an excited expletive.

Iamaleava’s arm has looked strong and accurate in throwing drills, but it’s been impossible to determine how well he’s mastered the offense given the viewing limitations.

The punters appear promising. Will Karroll and Lennox Miller, a pair of newcomers with Australian roots, were regularly booming punts some 50 yards.

Foster said he’s happy that his team features better depth in Year 2, leading to more competition because some backups could be good enough to supplant the presumed starters.

“It’s not just ‘I’m the guy,’ ” Foster said of having multiple players worthy of starting at various positions, “so it just feels that there’s more guys that can push a starter.”

A singular vision

JonJon Vaughns quit the UCLA baseball team to focus on football.

(Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)

JonJon Vaughns is all in on pigskin.

The UCLA linebacker’s decision to redshirt last season after playing in the first four games, combined with a choice to stop playing outfield after four seasons on the school’s baseball team, provided him with nearly a full year of football prep.

He can see and feel the difference, no longer having to work his way back into football shape after having missed spring practice while playing baseball.

“It was hard, just getting back in shape, running straight, not having those muscles from football early on,” Vaughns said, “and then, and then I don’t get those muscles until like midseason, so it’d be too late. But now it’s like, I got them, let’s use them, you know?”

As luck would have it, the timing of Vaughns’ decision to quit baseball was not ideal — UCLA made it back to the College World Series for the first time since 2013.

“I wanted to be there with the guys and coach [John] Savage, and I even texted [Savage] before [the Series], like, ‘Hey, wish I was there,’ you know?” Vaughns said. “But seeing them doing what they did this year was amazing to see.”

Looking a bit sturdier at 6 feet 1 and 225 pounds after having completed his first series of spring football practices, Vaughns said his weight is actually about the same after gaining 10 pounds of muscle and losing an accompanying amount of fat.

Having started 11 games in his first five seasons with the football team, Vaughns could move into a full-time starting role in his final football season. His ability to play both strong-side and weak-side linebacker gives him the versatility to fill a variety of spots and make the biggest influence of his career on a defense that needs playmakers.

Another softball title

Megan Faraimo during her days with UCLA.

(Alonzo Adams / Associated Press)

UCLA’s 12 NCAA softball championships lead all college programs — no one else is in double figures — so it should come as no surprise that three Bruins alums were crucial members of the first champion in the new Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

While helping the Talons sweep the Bandits, two games to none, in the championship series, Megan Faraimo pitched the seventh inning of Game 1 and collected the save with two strikeouts; Sharlize Palacios reached base four times in the series and ranked top five on the team in hits and total bases; and Maya Brady reached base safely twice in Game 1 and scored the team’s third and final run.

Competing as part of a barnstorming four-team, 24-game debut season that was completed in 12 cities and drew 20 sellouts, the Talons had several other UCLA connections. Lisa Fernandez was the team’s general manager, Kirk Walker the associate head coach and Will Oldham an assistant coach.

The AUSL plans to become a city-based league in 2026.

Opinion time

We had an influx of new subscribers after last week’s newsletter, so we are holding over the Mount Rushmore voting for one more week.

To recap, we’re wondering which four coaches or players would you put on your Mount Rushmore of UCLA football? Email your list of four to [email protected] and we’ll post the results in a future UCLA Unlocked. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but anyone who doesn’t list coach Terry Donahue should be denied entry to the Rose Bowl.

Remember when?

Speaking of Donahue, his final season opener as UCLA’s coach in 1995 was one of his more memorable ones.

The No. 15 Bruins welcomed No. 12 Miami to the Rose Bowl and proceeded to hand the Hurricanes a 31-8 whipping. You can watch the game here.

Left tackle Jonathan Ogden led a powerful offensive line that opened massive holes for running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar, who ran 29 times for 180 yards in 102-degree heat. The game was also notable in that it marked the debut of freshman quarterback Cade McNown, who completed both passes he threw in relief while starter Ryan Fien was sidelined by a concussion.

It was a high point in an up-and-down season that ended with a 51-30 loss to Kansas in the Aloha Bowl and the Bruins needing a new coach after Donahue announced that he was retiring after 20 seasons before becoming a college football analyst with CBS.

In case you missed it

UCLA’s Tino Sunseri vying to make child’s play out of winning with new quarterback

They’re happy campers as UCLA opens training sessions in cool, breezy Costa Mesa

Can UCLA sustain its buzz? Five questions Bruins must address going into training camp

Have something Bruin?

Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on Twitter @latbbolch. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.