Interesting interview.
I do wonder if Williams arena could be renovated where the seating and experience is better then it is. I did get to the barn this year for Women's game for first time in many years and compared to Mariucci the seating was not very steep and no leg room at all and not very comfortable. Then after row 22 it is just old fashioned bench seats. It would be interesting to look at a scenario where the floor is dropped and the seating would be similar to the Taylor Center at MSU but hold 6-8K instead of 4.8K Taylor Center does. I have also heard since Mariucci changed to NHL arena, it would be more capable of being an arena for basketball as well? St. John's is having games at Madison Square Gardens, so why not for possible rivalry games could the Gophers use the Target Center? Sometimes special games at special locations bring a buzz of excitement.
It also seems to be Richard switched is offensive mind set at NM. I do think fans want
1) Top opponents to go against on somewhat regular basis. Not going to spend $ per game on season tickets when high percentage of home games are vs teams not likely to make NCAA tournament.
2) Entertaining team to watch(mostly offensively). I know I would rather go a game where my team loses 87-83 against a good team and fun up and down the floor vs winning 61 to 55 vs a mediocre team and having many shot clock violations. Caitlin Clark did not fill the seats in all those arenas because of her D. It was because she was exciting running up the court making awesome passes and logo 3's.
NIL - There has to be a happy medium of support the revenue sharing for players and knowing there is a lot of talent out there for a coach to be able to get players that fit his style without having to just think paying $ for top end talent that are all just about the $. It is hard for a player these days to not try to get the $ colleges somehow able to throw out. But there are also plenty of smaller teams in same NIL or less than current gophers that know how to make it work. Again Caitlin Clark made more of NIL endorsement outside of what Iowa's NIL I would think. High percentage of college athletes don't play professionally afterwards. Can you sell the vision of NIL through being setup with a career afterwards to be successful? For those top end talent can you sell the NIL opportunities that will come from the outside market, like CC, if they create a buzz like CC did. There also usually is a higher price the more NIL player gets with expectations, media commitments, social media pressure, outside no and not being able to go places without being interrupted. Also building a winning team vs top opponents and make NCAA runs will help your NIL a lot. I am sure many top players of other teams, if given opportunity would play for Duke for no NIL.
Sounds like Niko is more offensive. Did watch some highlights where shot clock was well above 10 to get their first shot. Will he be able to do that in the big 10 is a ?
Rah!
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