I was thinking about that too, but then i remembered that at least a couple of those guys were early transfers too, not sure we get them before rules were loosened. If we could have bucked the transfer trend maybe.
This year’s team seems pretty limited so far. I have no expectations at this point, not that i had much to begin with given the roster turnover. I knew Braswell and Graves would be decent, and that’s about it. I expect Graves will be gone next year, he seems to be playing pretty well.
Okay. I agree and lets play along with the rules in place. What does that team cost in NIL money for this year. Very few actuality know but here is an estimate.
Graves = $50K
Patterson = $100K
Williams = $ 1,000,00K
Millic = $ 750K
Jackson = $ 750K
Now if we pay that what are benefits to Charlotte.
Full Halton with revenue.
Name in the media with top 25 coverage on ESPN, local coverage, name recognition. Media interviews with Fearne and players. Better match ups and OOC scheduling.
More NIL money.
Availability to better players.
Main downside is your are now in the game and must feed the beast more every year to satisfy it.
You are assuming they would want to stay in the AAC. Everyone of the names listed, except Graves, also left for a “bigger” conference. In the ESPN world that means better more tv exposure, better competition, better facilities, better perks etc.
let’s face it, the deck is stacked against any team not in a “power” conference.
Don’t forget an experienced defensive minded guard with size who is playing for App this year. Threadgill would add even more to the mix that you presented.
I get your point, but the AAC has a solid TV deal with the evil network.
To TSDs point - that’s a gamble that only pays off if you make the dance and advance. Those NCAA credits would go a long way towards covering those costs.
Having said that, it’s the entire system I’m railing against. If we were operating under the old rules we might finally have gotten some traction towards building a program.
There’s no way to do that anymore. None. You are going to lose your entire roster every year unless you are a rich program. And even then…
You have to catch lightning in a bottle and have everything break right for you in a single season.
Beyond that it’s hopeless/ pointless as things are now. It’s a full reset every year, either because you were good and so you lose your players, or because you were so awful that you try to retool in vain hope of ever being relevant again.
We are forever woe is me. Plenty of other teams have a chance to make the ncaa tournament. It’s the same as it ever was. You compete with your peers in your conference. Is it harder to make a sweet 16 or final four run outside of the power conferences? Absolutely. But there is no excuse for schools like ULL, North Texas, FGCU, or Longwood to be doing better than us. None. Zero. Hell App has been dancing recently.
We need to stop crying and making excuses and figure it out. Everyone else is dealing with the same shit. The forty whiners indeed.
But your peers now aren’t necessarily in your league now. Memphis is a conf peer but their resources with NIL are drastically higher than ours. I don’t even know where we rank with team NIL. I just know I was told we lost over 1 mil of talent and replaced it with 400k.
For me personally, beyond the ethical and moral issues I have with NIL, I’m just not interested in being emotionally invested with the system as NA describes it. It really is rebooting every year and hoping this is the year it all clicks. And then if your nil investments get hurt or don’t play much you are relying on players who are likely significant below what your “peers” are playing.
I’ve said NIL and portal have done what losing and terrible coaches couldn’t - made me sever my emotional connection with Niner basketball.
Never once during Major or Price or Ron did I consider not buying tickets. But here I am with no season tickets for the first time in over two decades.
Just a reminder that Memphis doesn’t really “keep” players. There is only one upperclassman on this season’s team who began his career with the Tigers - Moussa Cissé - and he spent years 2-3 with OK State and last season at Ole Miss before completing the 360 back to Bluff City. It’s been an annual revolving door under Hardaway.
Okay. Sounds like you have the elusive data that no one wants to present. What are the numbers / $ amounts you are aware of.
I just want to know what it will take to compete for an AAC title NCAA invite and with that a top 25 ranking this year and to see if it is cost effective and what that risk is.
The problem will be moving forward and feeding that hungrier beast in the future. All NIL monies will increase until the craziness dies down and people are not okay with the ROI and the stupidity of the whole system.
I realize money is certainly a motivator but making the Big Dance still accounts for something. Jackson and Milicic are most likely playing for #1 seeded teams come March. Staying here wouldn’t have guaranteed anything, not even NIT with all the changes to placate the P5.
Williams going to Nebraska was a head scratcher as far as NCAAT postseason chances but ended up working out last year. Huskers did get into the NET top 50 after beating Oregon State last night, so on the fringes for an at large right now. Big Ten will be a gauntlet as usual so probably need to finish around.500 for any consideration.
Patterson would still be here if Elijah Hawkins hadn’t surprisingly left Minnesota after declaring his loyalty to the program. Yes, definitely ironic all the way around! Thing is which Lu’Cye would we have gotten? The 2023-24 good offensive version or this season’s digression? Gophers probably looking at a coaching change unless they greatly exceed the preseason pick of last in a now 18 team league. And not really having any NIL to speak of certainly not helping Ben Johnson’s cause at his alma mater.
The fact is it’s going to be hard to win anything unless NIL is high enough. And even the. You have to get lucky you bought the right mix.
Money was always a challenge and now it’s a bigger challenge than ever.
Really need structure either from govt or some thing workable from ncaa, multi year contracts with buy outs, and dedicated revenue from tv and other non taxpayers non donor non student fees.
And peers are really those in your nil bracket more so than your conference.
Last time I talked to Mike at a tailgate he seemed think the government was going to provide something. Might just be the threat of losing tax exemptions. Anything that gets us on a path to something sustainable.
If eligibility rules fall completely Im really not sure what we are doing with all of this.
By definition, your conference mates are your peers. You just so happened to cherry pick the most cash flush team among them to make your point. If AAC teams aren’t our peers, that’s a failing of leadership.
And it’s fine, we get it. You hate NIL. I don’t like it either. It’s hurting college sports.
But if we are going to have a program and put tens of thousands of students in thousands of dollars in debt then we damn well better be competetive. What we are doing now is just insanity. We are spending tens of millions of dollars for just dogshit.
The only people who win are our overpaid coaches and our bloated administration. Students don’t have anything to have pride in. Alumni get lambasted for not supporting more when every dollar spent feels like a dollar thrown into a bon fire. The real beneficiaries here are admins getting paid to fly around the country and watch sporting events on the sidelines. What a cush gig. Blame the fans. Say you can’t compete with your peers because of them, then jetset around and collect five figure bonuses for Olympic sport championships.
We are what our leadership has been for two decades. We are a program that doesn’t make serious hires (sans Albin) because we don’t have serious people in charge. Why in the hell would a local CEO or multimillionaire business owner donate substantial sums so they can be flushed down the toilet.
You teach leadership for God’s sake. How can you not realize that every one of our failings, all of them, go back to failed leadership.
I think we have had some poor leadership and have made some extremely poor strategic decisions with contract extensions. I’ve also said numerous times that lack of revenue is the #1 issue and our inability to raise significant new revenue streams is the primary cause for our woes and it compounds and it’s even more an issue now than it was.
And yes your conference mates used to be peers, but in today’s game where winning is dictated in large part by what players you can buy your true peers are the ones with similar nil budgets. Maybe our situation will change when it all comes in house. I’d like to know how we compare with the rest of the AAC with men’s basketball NIL and the rest of G5. I think that’s why tells you who your performance peers are.
I know Memphis is at the top but where are we? Mid pack? Bottom? I’ve been told by some of the folks involved with our collective that we are between 300-400k and they felt we needed to be around 1 to 1.2 mil to really compete in the AAC. And that’s not to keep a team together that just having enough to try to reload, every year. So sounds like if we want to consider conference mates as peers we need a lot more money.
I also know we will not under any circumstances use student fee money to fund NIL when it comes in house and Thats exactly the right approach. If we ever pay players directly from students fees I’ll wash my hands of all of this.
I’m just being a realist with what I thinking our chances of success are now. Especially sustained success. Unless we luck into a NIL sugar daddy this is the new world.