I dont doubt the results of this poll but man some of these kids just have no perspective. I am sure its tough, you probably dominated your high school/AAU teams so you think "hey I'm good enough to play professional!" along with I am sure every parent/coach/recruiter telling you as much, but what are the odds these kids actually play professional? Look at how good Oturu was, and he is barely hanging on in the G league getting tiny sniffs at the league, are these kids putting up 2.1 ppg at Lehigh really thinking they are going to go some place that turns them into a pro prospect? Again I suppose good for the kid if they want to put in the work and self-belief but there has to be a little logic applied right?
2022 Transfer Portal Discussion
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I'm not going to argue against that list but I will add "exposure" to it. We do have pretty fair exposure due to our number of television appearances per year from cable tv and streaming subscriptions. Of course, we also have good facilities.
I don't like the term "fit" because it's pretty nebulous and, if you add all of the possible things that might go into that (other than playing time), I'm not sure the majority of those factors particularly help us. Certainly location (cold and pretty geographically isolated) doesn't help us with the majority of national recruits. Coaching, as you mention, is extremely important. We don't have coaching history on our side so Ben has to be a much better salesman than most P6 coaches. Hope he is.
Looks like a solid player but as a guard he averages 0.9 assist/game. That is not good, although his turnovers are about 0.6/game.
He's a shooting guard. This guy was very good in the tournament; instant offense off the bench and clutch free throw shooting.
I'm sure most of them realize that they are unlikely to have a real NBA career but there is also international play.
Oturu averaged 13.3 points and 7 rebounds in 22 minutes per game in the G League this season; his advanced stats were also good. He still could get some temporary call ups to the NBA and he might stick around for awhile in one of them. If not, he still could play overseas and make some decent money for awhile. According to Basketball Reference, he's already made about $2.4 million for his two-year contract.
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The Belmont freshman player Ben offered looks like a terrific prospect. I hope he comes.
Why do you continuously hang here just to inject lazy, sarcastic one-liners? Is your life that pathetic?
Candidly, I was shocked at some of the gopher transfers this year and their comments on professional aspirations. The boldest statements were by the guys who barely played. Confidence is king I guess….
MNVCGUY
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Most of these kids grow up being told how great they are and typically they are one of the best players on the court up till they reach college. Then all of the sudden they are on the court with guys just as good or in many cases better than they are.
Probably very hard for some of these players to face the reality that their pro dreams aren't going to happen or that they aren't destined for stardom.
When we say professional, are they talking NBA, or getting paid the play basketball at any pro level because that changes the conversation. Everyone wants to go to the NBA, but plenty of guys make nice livings in Europe and Austrailia, China etc
MNVCGUY
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True, however when you look at the total number of players I would think the number of guys making a livable wage playing basketball in some capacity is still incredibly low even when you factor in playing overseas. Don't have anything to back that up but feel pretty confident with the statement.
Well, here is some data on wages in selected international locations. Note that these are for the top leagues in the countries so one may have to settle for less by beginning in a lower level league and trying to work oneself up in the compensation ladder.
| Region/Country | League | Average Salary U$D | Max Salary U$D |
| Europe | |||
| Europe | Euroleague | 500k-800k/season | 4m/season |
| Spain | ACB | 250k-500k/season | 4m/season |
| Turkey | BCL | 250k-500k/season | 3.7m/season |
| Russia | VTB United | 200k-450k/season | 4m/season |
| Italy | Serie A | 180k-350k/season | 2m/season |
| Greece | Greek A1 | 60k-250k/season | 2.5m/season |
| Germany | BBL | 100k-350k/season | 1m/season |
| Israel | Premier L. | 80k-250k/season | 1.7m/season |
| France | LNB Pro A | 80k-200k/season | 300k/season |
| Asia | |||
| China | CBA | 1m-3m/season | 4m/season |
| South Korea | KBL | 250k-400k/season | 500k-800k+/season |
| Japan | B1 League | 120k-300k/season | 1m/season |
| Taiwan | SBL | 10k-20k/month | 30k/month |
| Phillippines | PBA | 10k-20k/month | 30k-40k/month |
| Pacific | |||
| Australia | NBL | 120k-250k/season | 500k+/season |
| South America | |||
| Argentina | La Liga | 7k-8k/month | 10k-15k/month |
| Brazil | NBB | 8k-9k/month | 15k-20k/month |
| Puerto Rico | BSN | 10k-14k/month | 15k-20k/month |
| Mexico | LNBP | 7k-8k/month | 15k-20k/month |
| Uruguay | LUB | 6k-7k/month | 10k-12k/month |
| Columbia | LPB | 3k-5k/month | 6k-8k/month |
| Chile | L. Nacional | 3k-4k/month | 5k-6k/month |
| Middle East | |||
| Iran | Superleague | 6k/month | 120k/season |
| UAE | D1 | 8k-10k/month | 100k/season |
| Lebanon | LBL | 6k-7k/month | 75k/season |
| Bahrain | Zain L. | 5k-6k/month | 15k/month |
| Qatar | QBL D1 | 4k-6k/month | 12k/month |
| Saudi Arabia | SBL | 5k-6k/month | 12k/month |
| Jordan | JBL | 3k-4k/month | 10k/month |
| Africa | |||
| Egypt | Superleague | 10k/month | 18k/month |
| Tunisia | Nationale A | 4k-5k/month | 12k/month |
| Morocco | D1 | 2k-3k/month | 10k/month |
| Overseas basketball players salaries for the top basketball leagues in all regions. Table by Europrobasket |
It's a fools game for 98% of them. Somehow, somewhere the schooling part of college basketball has to be reemphasized, the focus on NIL and how players are being taken advantage of is fine and needs to continue to be addressed but there has to be a shift back to the educational aspects of it, that seems to have been lossed.
Don't the players have that responsibility ?
They are Adults !!
Personally, I think these are the last students anyone needs to be very concerned about. A large percentage of students across the country graduate (or don't graduate) with large amounts of debt and struggle to find satisfactory employment afterwards. At least D1 scholarship basketball players had free rides and didn't exit with a bunch of debt to repay. If they have to come up with personal funds or borrowings to take some credits after their eligibility is completed, they are still way ahead of most students financially.
PhiloVance
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UConn coach Geno Auriemma has strong words about the transfer portal
There are close to 900 women’s college basketball players in the NCAA’s transfer...
Ski-U-Ham
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How about if we could get a kid from Weber St. (like Lillard), Lehigh (McCollum), or Davidson (Curry)? Hard pass, right?
I'd settle for the next Jamison Battle, Vince Grier, Akeem Spriggs, Reggie Lynch, Zach Lofton or even the next Matz Stockman, EJ Stephens or Luke Loewe. Think we've done pretty well over time in the portal with transfers. Or if another McKennie, or Dan Coleman/Joey King type wanted to transfer home, that's cool too
Gopherfan84
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Pre covid there is money to made overseas as well. A lot of guys can find opportunities to do that. The money varies though obviously depending on where and the level of the league.
MNVCGUY
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Interesting find and certainly not disputing that some players make great money overseas. My point is more to the fact that even if you incorporate players playing overseas it is still a pretty small number of players that actually end up making basketball their career. The overwhelming majority will be done when their eligibility runs out.
In the immortal words of Jim Dutcher at the Jim Dutcher Basketball Camp circa 1978, "There are 250 of you here. Maybe two of you will get a scholarship to play college basketball. Your future is in school. Do your homework." Bubble burst, but wise words. We did, in fact, have one professional athlete in that camp, but he played five or six years in the NFL.
The college level equivalent statement could be delivered to basketball players with dreams of playing pro at any level. It is possible, but have an alternative close by.
Yes, it's hard to make a very good living as a professional athlete. I think most people with any experience in life realize that.
There are a relatively small number of people making a good living at acting, directing, singing, writing and performing music, writing novels, plays, non-fiction, etc.as well; basically anything in the entertainment industry (which includes professional athletics). But, the surest way to not making a living in the entertainment industry is never to try. If all of the people in these positions stopped doing them after college and became accountants, actuaries, insurance underwriters, engineers, and pastry chefs instead, our lives would be much poorer for it.
Here's an impressive one-year mid-major center transfer: Jake Stevens from VMI
He just dropped. Really good stats across the board. Ist Team All Southern Conference this past season; 3rd team last year. #1 in league in PER this year (13th in NCAA) and 4th last year. Also led the League in True Shooting Percentage (.684) this season and is #9 Career (.613) for the Southern Conference. He's listed at 6'10" and 266 lbs.
He just dropped. Really good stats across the board. Ist Team All Southern Conference this past season; 3rd team last year. #1 in league in PER this year (13th in NCAA) and 4th last year. Also led the League in True Shooting Percentage (.684) this season and is #9 Career (.613) for the Southern Conference. He's listed at 6'10" and 266 lbs.
Ragnor
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Interesting! isn't that the school Liam Robbins uncle is going to be the head coach? if so, I wonder if Liam will transfer yet again to be with his uncle.
fan of Ray Williams
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No. The Citadel.
short ornery norwegian
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on playing pro ball in other countries - If you want to keep playing and you can make a decent living, why not? Look at Dusty Rychart - the dude played for years in (I think) Australia.
If you choices are make $100K playing hoops overseas, or working some kind of sales or office job in the US - probably for less money - I think a lot of people would choose to play hoops and see the world for a few years.
If you choices are make $100K playing hoops overseas, or working some kind of sales or office job in the US - probably for less money - I think a lot of people would choose to play hoops and see the world for a few years.
MNVCGUY
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I would love to meet the person that would turn down the chance to make 100K playing basketball for an office job regardless of where they would be playing. No athlete is turning that down.
The bigger choice is do you keep playing ball for next to nothing in an effort to catch on or do you hang it up and move on with life. I would never begrudge anyone taking a shot at following their dream, you just have to know when it is time to give it up and move on because the reality is that a very very very small percentage of athletes make it to the top.
And most of these leagues restrict the number of US/Foreign players allowed on each team. Australia, for example, allows only three US players per team, so a total of only 30 spots in the league. Within those that pay well there are limited number of spots available. Rickert, Rychart, McDonald were Gophers who had long careers overseas with decent income. However, along with it comes a lot of moving. All said, not nearly enough spots for all these kids leaving early and transferring.
GophersInIowa
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Or delusion. I had high school parents crying I was wrecking their childs' basketball career because I wasn't playing them. They paid the money for a camp and they were sure their kid was worthy of a college basketball scholarship. Yet, the kid couldn't make the varsity.
Oh ya, generally 5'6", unable to shoot, or ball handle, not quick....but the parents scheduled meetings with the Athletic Director and when not satisfied how that went, they'd move to the principal and then exasperated, as a final I'll show you! their kid would transfer.
Absolutely, not a one time occurrence.
Most bad high school players think they are going to play in the NBA. If they can play a little it gets worse.
We're way ahead of ya, GII! In addition to helping out a prospective basketball team, Edert would be perfect to include among the cast if they ever remake Saturday Night Fever!
I read somewhere all the Saint Peters guys were in the portal. Wouldn't you think they'll go to Seton Hall?