For certain Illini0440 you are more in touch with the everyday function of the program. But, at age 77, having been an avid fan of Illini hoops since the mid-50s, and having witnessed the evolution of the college hoops game, the answer to your question is a resounding yes. Either you pay him or someone else does. It does seem that BU is not foolish enough to do that...and IMHO...good for him. I am far from convinced that you need players of that ilk on the Illini roster.
We have seen the top level of NIL increase by multiples of the past 3 years to numbers no one can believe. The same thing will happen every year...and yet avid and wealthy alums still exist and still pay up. Next year, there will be multiple guys asking for 2 million. Two to five of them may ask for 3. Foolish not to expect that.
Now whether this Russian kid will be playing anywhere in the US for a college team is far from certain, but greed has no limits. The door to Greed City was opened by a court ruling. There is no limit on what foolish dreams these kids can conjure. And just like the bell curve of earth's human population, there will be a few extreme coaches who will think it necessary to outbid everyone else...just as there will always be those foolish enough to believe in Q-Anon and Trump winning the 2020 election. The land of common sense and facts embrace much of college hoops fans, players, and coaches....but there are fringe extremes, warped minds, and faulty thought processing that will never go away.
At some point, and maybe sooner than anyone knows, those wealthy supporters may realize that general fan interest in college basketball, and football, will erode. Who cares what 20, 30, 40 million dollar payroll wins the national title by year 2037?. Most fans will not know or care who is on the team of their alma mater until they are ranked in the top 5 anyway. That state of interest seemed impossible a couple of years ago. But it may be closer than any of us imagine. I hope not, but until some sensibility is legislated into the college game, there is no limit to how bizarre things will get.