It's called the Alston Fund.
Football money obviously drives the availability to release such funds. It's not crazy money and varies from sport to sport but I am sure the athletes appreciate having $5K - $6K for walk around money. Hopkins might not have Alston money but the alums have a nice little NIL war chest to entice players with.
Head coaches are general managers now, at least at the schools that have these tranches of funds available. What funds are available and what funds do you want to invest in which players is a lot to consider in roster construction.
Not sure how this is all sustainable over the long haul. Not all schools are going to have access to this type of funding which is fine for sports like football because there will be enough that will, but lacrosse? At some point there will be a handful of schools willing to invest at levels it takes to compete and the rest will fall by the wayside. That's not great for the sport.