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Topic: RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Topic: RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

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bobcatsquared
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 12:47:23 PM

That last sentence (But you start to wonder about its future.) says it all. Will the NIL bubble at some point burst like the housing bubble or the tech bubble? I can't see how it won't.

FJC31
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 1:28:55 PM

Ted Thompson wrote:

OhioCatFan wrote:

A question about all this NIL money talk. I thought that NIL money could only be given for the use of the players name, image or likeness in some type of advertising by a third party. Now, it seems to be any money raised by anyone (including structures set up by the school itself) and paid directly to the player just to retain his or her services. If my perception is correct, then we already have players as employees, and a court would likely rule as such. Further, if true, we are now, in essence, running at least a semi-pro athletics program.

Well, that certainly was the spirit of the law. I belong to a group in Dayton that has ADs from Dayton, Wright St., Miami and UC speak each year. They were all in favor of true NIL. If a car dealership wanted to hire an athlete to make an appearance to help drive auto sales, then that was perfectly acceptable. But they ALL said they knew that's what this wasn't going to be. Add in the removal of sit-out year and you have free agency that has the pro sports leagues envious.
So now you have collectives raising millions of dollars and just giving to players (although players are often asked to make an appearance at charity events to legitimize the transaction). There is still true NIL. Ohio has a platform set up to allow you interact directly with athletes (https://dash.inflcr.com/exchange/ohio-university/registra... ). Ohio's collective is https://1804sportcollective.com /. I understand that to be primarily focused on basketball but I could be wrong.
Just as the MAC has never joined the arms race in terms of facilities or coaching salaries, I don't see it being a huge player in NIL. Many schools are in small cities/towns with fanbases that can't generate meaningful money.
But the NIL money certainly changes the landscape at the Power 5 level. There was an article in today's Athletic about Pitino and the NIL at St. John's. He determined he would need around $2.3M to put together the team he wanted. So he went to about 30-40 fundraising events to get that money. Pitno said that, with NIL, St. John's is the same as Kentucky. The University of Dayton was on the verge of losing star big man DaRon Holmes. He had an offer of $1M to leave (presumably from Kansas who ended up giving Michigan's Hunter Dickinson $1M). Their collective, Dayton 6th, was able to give Holmes $500K (plus he had true NIL deals) and that was enough to get him to stay.
Many of the ADs feel you have to play the game right now to the extent you can. Although they all believe it will moderate. At some point, people will want ROI from NIL. Plus, universities will start trying to pull back donor dollars into their coffers vs it going to the players. At least in the very short-term, conference realignment and massive player movement doesn't seem to impact the popularity of college athletics. But you start to wonder about its future.

You're correct, Ted. That the 1804 Collective is basketball specific. I'll add that when I spoke with Blueprint Sports (basically the bones for most NIL Collective websites) in March, our collective had raised $103K at the time for Boals to spend when and where needed. Perhaps more was raised by the time the portal opened up.

That should put in perspective as to where we're at when you factor in what Pitino stated and what players are receiving from schools. Boals likely offered what he could to a number of bigs in the portal, without jeopardizing the rest of the roster.

It's basically operate like the Rays (scouting/finding hidden gems) or being able to raise more money. Ideally, it's both. We might have to pluck size from the levels below if its going to cost $50-$90K for D1 bigs.

GoCats105
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 1:47:48 PM

My opinion has always been that we used whatever NIL we had to keep the guys we had and didn't have enough to pursue a big man - Boals more or less said it himself at Caravan stops that big men were the hardest to come by/most expensive, didn't he?

OhioCatFan
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 2:00:35 PM

bobcatsquared wrote:

. . . Will the NIL bubble at some point burst like the housing bubble or the tech bubble? I can't see how it won't.

+1

I see that you are capable of hitting the nail on the head every once in awhile.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

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M.D.W.S.T
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 2:15:56 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

He did.

He's not shy about laying it out there. Any time you seen an unnamed mid-major coach in an article...

Sad state of sports - especially when your team isnt the one benefitting - but it is what is.

Hunter Dickinson was up in arms because he only made six figures at Michigan. So that's why he left.

I always thought players should be able to get a cut, but never imagined this - I can't even believe its real. No guardrails whatsoever, except apparently the Miami guy couldn't tweet at the hot twins, and Harbaugh couldn't pay for a kids cheeseburger. Nate Oates could drop $500,000 in a duffle bag on Sears front door though. All good. No JBC's here.

Last Edited: 11/13/2023 2:18:10 PM by M.D.W.S.T

FJC31
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 5:42:12 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

Yea, I'm sure Boals had certain price he was willing and able to go for bigs. I know we're only two games into the season; but, I went to look at all the big men we were known to be connected to.

Javonte Brown wasn't given a waiver for this season. So, he wouldn't have helped anyway.

Okonkwo has only played a total of 4 mins in two games for UNC -- against Radford and Lehigh. It's looking like he chose money over PT. Not much we can do about that.

Isaiah Carr (Grand Canyon kid who visited) is averaging 8ppg and 4.5ppg for Denver. He's from New Mexico. So, he might have just opted to play closer to home.

Myles Foster hurts. Picking up where he left off at Monmouth. 11.5ppg, 6.5rpg, 1bpg. Might end up being the only one worth paying and we were among the finalists for him.

Last Edited: 11/13/2023 5:44:13 PM by FJC31

GraffZ06
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 5:51:38 PM

FJC31 wrote:

It's basically operate like the Rays (scouting/finding hidden gems) or being able to raise more money. Ideally, it's both. We might have to pluck size from the levels below if its going to cost $50-$90K for D1 bigs.

Moneyball for sure. I think it's a safe assumption that Boals et al used their free agent money re-signing AJB, EJ4, and Hunter and then grabbing Evans for next year. A 4-year big and continuity at the expense of 2-year bigs this year. It's a valid strategy but doesn't help much this season.

Also going by some other numbers I think it takes more than 50-90k for good bigs. At least 100 and possibly 150k more realistically. At 50k you're getting the Gabe Wiznitzers of the world.

Like I said. Find more money, accept future mediocrity in 2 sports, or cut the cord and focus resources on one sport with the most bang for your buck. Hint, look around at all the non-p5 schools like A10, Big East, WCC, MVC, Horizon. One of these things is not like the other...

Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 7:35:18 PM

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

[QUOTE=GoCats105]
I always thought players should be able to get a cut, but never imagined this - I can't even believe its real. No guardrails whatsoever, except apparently the Miami guy couldn't tweet at the hot twins, and Harbaugh couldn't pay for a kids cheeseburger. Nate Oates could drop $500,000 in a duffle bag on Sears front door though. All good. No JBC's here.

This is the NCAAs fault. They ignored the obvious for a decade and the courts forced their hand in ways everybody knew the courts would rule. They could have been preparing for this and ushered this in with a much more reasonable approach, and instead we have blank check NILs.

The NCAA thought this was a PR war, not a legal one. And they bet very wrong on that, and their own product's suffered as a result.

Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/13/2023 10:27:04 PM

GraffZ06 wrote:

Like I said. Find more money, accept future mediocrity in 2 sports, or cut the cord and focus resources on one sport with the most bang for your buck. Hint, look around at all the non-p5 schools like A10, Big East, WCC, MVC, Horizon. One of these things is not like the other...

This is 100% right.

By the way, I know a super easy way to free up 300k/year to spend on basketball players when the inevitable occurs and athletes are ruled employees.

Pay the coach $400k instead of $700k, and spend the remainder on talent. Coaching salaries got way out of control because there was nowhere else to spend the money. There is now. I don't know how much the assistants are paid, but it should probably be less and a percentage of that should go to players, too.

And if any donor money helps funds Boals' salary, they should absolutely reallocate that yesterday.

FJC31
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 8:43:15 AM

GraffZ06 wrote:

FJC31 wrote:

At 50k you're getting the Gabe Wiznitzers of the world.

This might have been the difference between us adding another big for the sake of it and adding Shereef/Ike. Of the guys I listed above, only Foster was the proven commodity. The risk may have outweighed the reward based on cost for the others (or any big) to Boals.

Last Edited: 11/14/2023 8:44:56 AM by FJC31

M.D.W.S.T
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 10:58:02 AM

GraffZ06 wrote:

I wrote a long thing, but deleted it. Because YUCK. I feel sad even writing out those words.

An FBS team is better off cutting the sport than trying to keep playing without a fan base. Dropping to FCS isn't as easy as just saying, oh we're paying less money now, and we're gonna remain competitive - now all your players are going to every other school in Ohio - you still have to pay to travel to whomever is in your new dog shit conference, you're still paying the same costs to host home games, only you have far less people in the stands, theres no one watching on TV, no more ESPN, you're no longer playing $1M games...

Just look at Idaho. The move down has been a disaster. I have family in Idaho and there is talks of them coming back to FBS again. They're still as bad as they were - only now it's in front of 10 people. Instead of 10K. The move to FCS doesn�t make things easier either, the same problems exist except with even less money.

That's why a place like Rice doesn't drop down just because they're in the shadow of Texas, Tech, A&M, SMU, Houston, Baylor... even bad football does so much for a university.

Unless OU was offered a spot in the Big East - and UD would go before we would - I'm happy to have our above average success outside the P5. I'm sad thinking its even a possibility we lose FBS football.

We may never win the College Football Playoff, but 8-9-10 win seasons, bowl games, competitive football, out of conference games (that we occasionally win) I enjoy that. I think we all enjoy that. That's why we're here. If OU dropped down to 1AA or something... honestly, I can't even picture what it would do to the University as a whole.

We would just rely on basketball - and our 5K a night attendance in a cavernous arena that needs bulldozed - for overall campus desirability, student enrichment, alumni outreach, branding, money, school spirit, diversity, student life, outside funding, pride, merch etc etc etc ?

Last Edited: 11/14/2023 11:08:10 AM by M.D.W.S.T

shabamon
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 11:10:59 AM

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

GraffZ06 wrote:

I wrote a long thing, but deleted it. Because YUCK. I feel sad even writing out those words.

An FBS team is better off cutting the sport than trying to keep playing without a fan base. Dropping to FCS isn't as easy as just saying, oh we're paying less money now, and we're gonna remain competitive - now all your players are going to every other school in Ohio - you still have to pay to travel to whomever is in your new dog shit conference, you're still paying the same costs to host home games, only you have far less people in the stands, watching on TV, playing less money games.

Just look at Idaho. The move down has been a disaster. They're still as bad as they were - only now it's in front of 10 people. Instead of 10K. The move to FCS doesn�t make things easier either, the same problems exist except with even less money.

That's why a place like Rice doesn't drop down. Among dozens of others.

Unless OU was offered a spot in the Big East - and UD would go before we would - I'm happy to have our above average success outside the P5. I'm sad thinking its even a possibility we lose FBS football.

We may never win the College Football Playoff, but 8-9-10 win seasons, bowl games, competitive football, out of conference games (that we occasionally win) I enjoy that. I think we all enjoy that. That's why we're here. If OU dropped down to 1AA or something... honestly, I can't even picture what it would do to the University as a whole.

We would just rely on basketball - and our 5K a night attendance in a cavernous arena that needs bulldozed - for overall desirability, campus enrichment, branding, money, school spirit, diversity, student life, outside funding, pride, outreach, etc etc etc

The only way we should ever begin to weigh the pros and cons of dropping to FCS is if most of the MAC came with us, but the loss of television revenue still seems too crippling to the overall athletic department.

Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 11:50:31 AM

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

GraffZ06 wrote:

Everybody acts like the way things look today look anything like they look in 10 years. I think that's a big mistake.

My guess is that college football will -- in the next 10 years -- resemble the Premier League in English soccer. There'll be some number of top programs -- 40? 30? 50? -- that break away to form their own league. It'll be national, and the 'conferences' will be more akin to divisons. They'll probably retain some of the branding for the sake of rivalries (SEC schools will still play each other a lot, Big 10 schools will too, etc) but the days of there being 130 D1 schools under the same governing body are dwindling.

It doesn't matter if it's called FCS or something else, but there's a reality approaching that OU will not be competing at the top level of college football in the near future.

Ohio State, Alabama, Texas and the like are Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.

OU is, I dunno, some team in League One that hasn't won anything meaningful since the 60s?

BillyTheCat
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 1:48:37 PM

Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame wrote:

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

What makes you think the courts would have upheld a spending limit, thus not allowing for the "blank check". Seems that those "limits" you think the NCAA could have imposed are ok at keeping athletes from their earning potential.

GoCats105
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 2:00:18 PM

Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame wrote:

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

GraffZ06 wrote:

It's pretty apparent that this is where it's headed and you can look no further than what's happening today at 2pm PDT when the court hearing involving Oregon State and Washington State and the PAC-12 decides whether or not those two schools get to keep the conference's revenue that is due to them from the NCAA Tournament and the College Football Playoff Committee (Rose Bowl payouts).

Those two were left behind and if you're a fan of Indiana, Illinois, Maryland, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Wake Forest, Kansas State or any mid-tier to low tier power conference school - you're next! In a way, with the MAC never expanding or losing schools (UMass and Temple don't count), they've more or less set themselves up for the future because of the stability. The need for football programming will always exist, it just might not fetch the dollar figure it used to or currently does.

But I'd be totally fine if those 30-40 schools did their own thing and the rest were able to advance up through relegation. It at least gives an incentive, rather than the current illusion that everyone is on the same playing field.

M.D.W.S.T
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 2:29:02 PM

GoCats105 wrote:

But I'd be totally fine if those 30-40 schools did their own thing and the rest were able to advance up through relegation. It at least gives an incentive, rather than the current illusion that everyone is on the same playing field.

There is absolutely no way the mid-tier P5 schools would sign up to this, but it would be interesting to see it happen.

There are 69 P5 schools, 59 non-P5 schools. 128 total. (as of this 2022 article I'm reading from SI, and I don't want to google SMU, etc)

The FBS could be the Power 50.

Those outside 19 teams would combine regionally, with the current G5 59. Making an 78 team Champions League.

Still have your Top 25, etc

Bottom 15 relegated down, Top 15 moved up.

Every year your JMU's, your Toledo has a chance to move into a conference with Ohio State and Penn State to prove themselves. If they don't... back down.

But that could even help with recruiting, and allow smaller schools to get some of that massive money pie. Even if just for a year. Imagine what OU could do with $30M in TV revenue.

Damn. I love it. Too bad this came out in an IJ Ezuma thread lmao

FJC31
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 2:46:56 PM

Love the overall discussion but as it relates to IJ � I was told earlier he�s academically ineligible (not shocking, with him in steer clothes). So, who knows if and when we�ll see him at this rate.

Last Edited: 11/14/2023 2:47:49 PM by FJC31

FearLeon
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 3:17:58 PM

FJC31 wrote:

If true, I have no words. Dude sits out an entire year with a redshirt which should also help with academics. So best case scenario now....we don't see him at the earliest until after last day of fall classes....December 9th. I'm not holding my breath.

Last Edited: 11/14/2023 3:40:39 PM by FearLeon

#BleedGreen #TrentIsGOAT

Bobcat Love's Sense of Shame
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 3:42:58 PM

BillyTheCat wrote:

I don't understand the question. What limits?

GoCats105
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 4:18:21 PM

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

GoCats105 wrote:

There is absolutely no way the mid-tier P5 schools would sign up to this, but it would be interesting to see it happen.

What makes you think they have a choice? Once the next round of grant of rights contracts start to come to a close, the biggest of the big will decide they don't need them anymore. There was a rumor that Michigan was threatening to leave the Big Ten as a result of this whole Harbaugh nonsense. What's to stop Michigan, Texas, Alabama, USC, Florida State and the like from jumping into a room together and agreeing to only play each other?

Eventually the well of money is going to dry up and the bigger and more profitable brands will want to keep as much money for themselves as possible. If that means Ohio State and Illinois won't play anymore, then so be it. Washington and Oregon just cut ties with their rivals and haven't looked back.

greencat
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/14/2023 4:36:33 PM

FearLeon wrote:

FJC31 wrote:

Has he not had ample time by Dec. 9th to get caught up on his schoolwork?

BillyTheCat
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/15/2023 11:23:41 AM

M.D.W.S.T wrote:

GoCats105 wrote:

Problem with this is the scheduling model, and having to be flexible with multiple moving parts and complete schedules.

BillyTheCat
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/15/2023 11:25:34 AM

greencat wrote:

FearLeon wrote:

FJC31 wrote:

Has he not had ample time by Dec. 9th to get caught up on his schoolwork?

Eligibility is figured off of the last semester. So no, he would be in this situation until the end of semester and new grades are posted. It is either a GPA or Hours issue.

shabamon
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/15/2023 12:01:33 PM

Grades are available 12/21. That would suggest the earliest possible return is 12/22 at Austin Peay.

M.D.W.S.T
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RE: The Mystery That Is IJ Ezuma

Posted: 11/15/2023 12:21:23 PM

BillyTheCat wrote:

greencat wrote:

FearLeon wrote:

FJC31 wrote:

Has he not had ample time by Dec. 9th to get caught up on his schoolwork?

Eligibility is figured off of the last semester. So no, he would be in this situation until the end of semester and new grades are posted. It is either a GPA or Hours issue.

I just cannot fathom an athlete not being able to maintain eligibility. I doubt my guy is majoring in advanced chemistry. There are so many avenues in which to learn, cheat, etc. Chegg? They have the homework answers online. Do that. You have a paper due? Have AI do it. Then re-write it in your own words. Showing up to class is half the battle. You have a team of advisors; you literally have a team in which to get help. They have progress reports. You can see yourself about to fail - and then get help. That is a knucklehead. No place for someone who can't be bothered to go to class.

*edit* unless they average 20-10, in which case, these athletes have it tough, there are many pressures we don't see which impede them from doing homework.

Last Edited: 11/15/2023 12:25:17 PM by M.D.W.S.T

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