NIL and portal destroying college hoops

classof84

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What do you all think of this. Personally, I'm finding it harder to be a committed fan(which I've been for 45 years- through thick and thin). There's no consistency or continuity. You get a hopeful recruit and he grows into a very good player year 2. Year 3 he's a stud and helping your team really win. You're excited for team on year 4 because of this player and his surrounding staff which has grown for 3 years. They end up winning big10 and get high seed in NCAA. Any team can kiss this possibility away. I'm just really frustrated and wanted to hear some differing opinions.
 

What do you all think of this. Personally, I'm finding it harder to be a committed fan(which I've been for 45 years- through thick and thin). There's no consistency or continuity. You get a hopeful recruit and he grows into a very good player year 2. Year 3 he's a stud and helping your team really win. You're excited for team on year 4 because of this player and his surrounding staff which has grown for 3 years. They end up winning big10 and get high seed in NCAA. Any team can kiss this possibility away. I'm just really frustrated and wanted to hear some differing opinions.
You are not wrong. The worst of it is to be a struggling program like ours in this type of landscape. Good programs can lose a few guys and feel good about reloading. While that is still not as fun as real college basketball was, at least there was a fighting chance. Now? It's tough.
 

i hate this for college hoops in general. I know the people that were really vocal about this needing to be basically open season, the Jay Bilas of the world, i bet are shocked at what this has turned into.

the problem is the NCAA Tourney is just a huge success that nobody will care to make any changes.

while the big boys will continue to buy players and you will have a couple teams that find the right mix of next tier guys to make a fun run.
 


It’s frustrating for fans as you can’t follow the movement of players anymore. I’m 40 now but as a kid I could probably name close to the starting 5 of the top 25 teams….no exaggeration at all. Obviously I don’t have the time to commit towards following the sport I love. And the transfer portal has made it nearly impossible to name 2-3 players on the top 10 teams.

And whatever happened to a full ride scholarship being your reward for playing college basketball?

But what I wonder about most is what is going to happen to teams that can’t give NIL to everyone on the team. These are 18-22 year olds and I can imagine some friction where only a couple players are getting NIL deals. Putting in the same amount of work and your teammate is making $250,000 and you are making nothing. The climate of College basketball is turning me away from the sport I love. It’s become like a semi-pro league with contracts and not commitments and with all the stuff that’s going on it’s become a laughable joke.

Not good…the NCAA better work towards fixing the college landscape and they better do it fast.

And just one last rant. It really made me quite mad when the sport is facing all these problems and instead of devoting more time to fixing them they instead are using the NIT to see what having an extra tv timeout would look like. Just a blatant money grab having more advertisements during the game! What a joke!
 



CBB is a complete disaster and I no longer follow it with any regularity. Its not just the lack of team (and conference and coaching) stability; its the product itself; its horse poo compared to what it used to be. Yet these big TV contacts keep happening, so someone must be watching. My sense is that there will be a market correction and then, just maybe, some order, but until then, I'll pass.
 

It’s frustrating for fans as you can’t follow the movement of players anymore. I’m 40 now but as a kid I could probably name close to the starting 5 of the top 25 teams….no exaggeration at all. Obviously I don’t have the time to commit towards following the sport I love. And the transfer portal has made it nearly impossible to name 2-3 players on the top 10 teams.

And whatever happened to a full ride scholarship being your reward for playing college basketball?

But what I wonder about most is what is going to happen to teams that can’t give NIL to everyone on the team. These are 18-22 year olds and I can imagine some friction where only a couple players are getting NIL deals. Putting in the same amount of work and your teammate is making $250,000 and you are making nothing. The climate of College basketball is turning me away from the sport I love. It’s become like a semi-pro league with contracts and not commitments and with all the stuff that’s going on it’s become a laughable joke.

Not good…the NCAA better work towards fixing the college landscape and they better do it fast.

And just one last rant. It really made me quite mad when the sport is facing all these problems and instead of devoting more time to fixing them they instead are using the NIT to see what having an extra tv timeout would look like. Just a blatant money grab having more advertisements during the game! What a joke!
Worse than semi-pro.
 

i hate this for college hoops in general. I know the people that were really vocal about this needing to be basically open season, the Jay Bilas of the world, i bet are shocked at what this has turned into.

the problem is the NCAA Tourney is just a huge success that nobody will care to make any changes.

while the big boys will continue to buy players and you will have a couple teams that find the right mix of next tier guys to make a fun run.
The Jay Bilas of the world don’t care. This economic Darwinism and they are all for it. When the greed kills their product and college sports becomes like tennis followed by a niche group of elites, they might wake up. But I’m not confident. You would think these people might learn something from the NFL about creating an environment of competitive balance.
 



Worse than semi-pro.
It has become an end in itself rather than a means to an end. That distorts everything. And doesn’t do much for the people connected to it either.
 

They really need to eliminate the free transfer without sitting out. That would help quite a bit
I'm ok with one free transfer. But just limit it to that one. No more grad transfers, no waivers. If you want to transfer a second time, then you have to sit out.

Unfortunately I don't think the NCAA has much control over that anymore as it's become a legal matter.

Contracts might be the only way to stop it.
 

Whatever happened to the days of Big Monday and Super Tuesday where it would be 2 games a night and both of them involving 4 ranked teams…..and you could actually follow and cheer for certain teams because they didn’t get a complete makeover year to year. It was always nice following the nucleus of a team and you could name the 3 seniors that graduated and the 3 recruits coming in.
 




I'm ok with one free transfer. But just limit it to that one. No more grad transfers, no waivers. If you want to transfer a second time, then you have to sit out.

Unfortunately I don't think the NCAA has much control over that anymore as it's become a legal matter.

Contracts might be the only way to stop it.
I’m actually in favor of the grad transfers. At least there is some semblance of education left in the system.

The system needs to fight the pushback against reasonable rules.
 


The Jay Bilas of the world don’t care. This economic Darwinism and they are all for it. When the greed kills their product and college sports becomes like tennis followed by a niche group of elites, they might wake up. But I’m not confident. You would think these people might learn something from the NFL about creating an environment of competitive balance.
Bilas is all for what he feels is best for the players. There's nothing wrong with looking out for the players but he and others like him ignore that the players and fans go hand in hand when it comes to creating revenue for the players. So far the fans for the most part have hung on but I think we will eventually see a shift between the top 10-15 programs and everyone else. The Duke's, UConn's, and Kentucky's will continue to do well. But most everyone else will struggle. We'll see.
 

I’m actually in favor of the grad transfers. At least there is some semblance of education left in the system.

The system needs to fight the pushback against reasonable rules.
If they haven't transferred yet, then they can take advantage of this. At least at the highest level, I don't think too many players were making the move for academic reasons.
 

Should multi-millionaire coaches be forced to sit out a year as well if they leave? If not, why?
Personally, I feel this is what started all this shit. The kids didn't become disloyal. The coaches did.

Absolutely in favor of rules prohibiting movement of any kind until the season concludes.
 

What do you all think of this. Personally, I'm finding it harder to be a committed fan(which I've been for 45 years- through thick and thin). There's no consistency or continuity. You get a hopeful recruit and he grows into a very good player year 2. Year 3 he's a stud and helping your team really win. You're excited for team on year 4 because of this player and his surrounding staff which has grown for 3 years. They end up winning big10 and get high seed in NCAA. Any team can kiss this possibility away. I'm just really frustrated and wanted to hear some differing opinions.
My interest level is quickly evaporating. Once my kids finish school and I'm no longer directly connected to football or men's basketball, I'm not even sure I'll attend a game again in person and may occasionally watch if on TV. I just am caring less and less.
 

NIL as intended is not the problem

The Transfer portal as an easier way to manage moving between schools is not the problem

As others have pointed out, free transfers with immediate eligibility combined with unregulated pay for play is the problem.

The fact that we all talk about collectives like they are just a regular thing and not some abomination born out of this stupidity is the main example of how far off the cliff things have gone.

Eliminating immediate eligibility for all non grad transfers would be the quickest solution but we all know that trying to do that would just lead to lawsuits.

Was thinking about this, fans have pride in their school but players used to have that as well. I think we are quickly reaching the point in basketball and to a lesser degree football where the players leaving the system will no longer really have a strong connection to the school they attended and that is a shame. Really destroys what college athletics used to be about.
 

right now it seems as if the NCAA has just admitted defeat and is waiting for Congress or the Supreme Court to come in and set some new ground rules.

I detailed this in another thread. the NCAA has been losing court cases for 40 years and a majority of the cases are being decided on anti-trust issues. Like it or not, courts have found that the NCAA does not have the right to place limits on what student-athletes can earn or on their right to transfer to another school. and now you have the Dartmouth case where the NRLB is ruling that student-athletes can be classified as employees and join a union.

as I see it, it's going to take Congress to pass new laws regulating college sports - and those laws will have to be upheld by the Courts. until that happens, the current mess is going to be the status quo.
 

right now it seems as if the NCAA has just admitted defeat and is waiting for Congress or the Supreme Court to come in and set some new ground rules.

I detailed this in another thread. the NCAA has been losing court cases for 40 years and a majority of the cases are being decided on anti-trust issues. Like it or not, courts have found that the NCAA does not have the right to place limits on what student-athletes can earn or on their right to transfer to another school. and now you have the Dartmouth case where the NRLB is ruling that student-athletes can be classified as employees and join a union.

as I see it, it's going to take Congress to pass new laws regulating college sports - and those laws will have to be upheld by the Courts. until that happens, the current mess is going to be the status quo.
Yep, going to be years before some sense of normalcy is restored to all of this.
 

Should multi-millionaire coaches be forced to sit out a year as well if they leave? If not, why?
I'll take a stab at that. The coaches are employees so they are subject to the terms of their contract. Most contracts are clearly written to detail what can/can't happen if the contract is voided by either party. Most coaches would never sign a contract requiring them to sit a year if they left on their own accord. Many corporations have no compete clauses and similar to prevent someone from moving from Wells Fargo to US Bank and bringing their knowledge with them.

The student athletes sign a Grant-In-Aid agreement with their university. Their eligibility to play their sport of choice, however, is governed by the rules and regs of the NCAA which previously did not allow free transfers. NIL has opened the door to lawsuits against many of these rules and regs as they, in essence, limit the ability of these student athletes to improve their ability to earn NIL at its highest potential.
 

If they haven't transferred yet, then they can take advantage of this. At least at the highest level, I don't think too many players were making the move for academic reasons.
True, but they at least needed to have a degree to do it. That was my point about education being connected to the move.
 

Bilas is all for what he feels is best for the players. There's nothing wrong with looking out for the players but he and others like him ignore that the players and fans go hand in hand when it comes to creating revenue for the players. So far the fans for the most part have hung on but I think we will eventually see a shift between the top 10-15 programs and everyone else. The Duke's, UConn's, and Kentucky's will continue to do well. But most everyone else will struggle. We'll see.
“Players” is a wide swath. I see Bilas and his ilk being on the side of the small number of high end players who benefit from the highest bidder system we have now. As much as people grouse about how it was, the old system did give some reasonable assurance that any scholarship athlete who wanted an education and degree could get one. Someone is going to have to do a study in five years of how many guys blew their opportunity by chasing a delusional dream or were conned into thinking they were going to get paid and didn’t.

I’ve argued from the beginning that this is a system that benefits very few and sets huge numbers back from where they were. Nothing has convinced me otherwise. Bilas and his ideological colleagues need to speak to the needs of the 80% of scholarship athletes who don’t benefit economically or educationally from cash and unrestricted transfers.

Greed from big programs, the NCAA, and the grifters wanting a piece of the players take has driven this into the ground. Combined with a growing sense of self centeredness, it is creating an explosion in the enterprise as a whole.
 

They really need to eliminate the free transfer without sitting out. That would help quite a bit
This would make a massive difference but it would also likely be struck down by the courts.
 

Should multi-millionaire coaches be forced to sit out a year as well if they leave? If not, why?
They are under contract and there are negotiations, mostly financial, that dictate the conditions of breaking a contract. I’m happy for free departing if we get compensatory draft picks. Not happening. The pendulum has swung too far. Contracts, rules, whatever you call them, need to be in place.
 

They are under contract and there are negotiations, mostly financial, that dictate the conditions of breaking a contract. I’m happy for free departing if we get compensatory draft picks. Not happening. The pendulum has swung too far. Contracts, rules, whatever you call them, need to be in place.
Yep. IMO, this is the NCAA's fault, they buried their heads in the sand rather than attack this situation proactively. Here we are, the worst of both worlds and it does not feel like we have any plan of attack.
 


I'm ok with one free transfer. But just limit it to that one. No more grad transfers, no waivers. If you want to transfer a second time, then you have to sit out.

I'd even be willing to go for one free undergrad transfer and one grad transfer. I don't see the grad transfer being as prevalent in CBB in the future. In the past when you had a grad transfer, it was because a player either sat out after a previous transfer or was redshirted. Since we no longer have the previous sit-out and the 5th optional year is gone after next season, I don't see the conditions being there as often. You'd see it more in football because redshirting is more common there.
 




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